25 years after the Battle of Hogwarts

Somewhere in upstate New York...

The cloaked figure glanced around and pulled its hood up further. Any normal person could never hope to see who was hiding under that heavy cloak, even if they cared enough to look. But Fen wasn't worried about normal people. After ensuring there was no one around, he continued walking along the rugged hiking trail. He heard a branch snap to his left and swiftly drew his wand, pointing at where he had heard the sound. A squirrel looked up at him, then scurried off deeper into the forest. Fen allowed himself a sigh, then stored his wand back inside his robes and continued walking.

After a while he came to a certain tree. I + 8 was carved into the bark, surrounded by a heart shape. Upon reaching this tree, Fen turned off the path and walked through the untamed forest to the right. Before long he came to a boulder. Fen drew his wand, calmly this time, and said "Wingardium Leviosa." The boulder began to float above the ground, revealing a normal wooden door beneath it. Not a trap door, as one might expect, but an actual door, of the kind one might walk through to go into a building, except there was no glass to see through.

Fen raised the boulder higher and higher until it was just a speck in the clear blue sky. Then he let the spell go and hurriedly opened the door to jump inside. As he went through the door, the world seemed to shift on a 90 degree angle, so rather than falling a long time and landing on his feet, Fen only fell just enough to get into the room, then landed on his back. He quickly got up and closed the door behind him just as the boulder was about to come crashing into the room.

After catching his breath, Fen looked around. It was more of a hall than a room, really. A long, dark, damp hall. If you squinted enough at the walls you could make out strange murals, most of which involved snakes of various types. There were also symbols, but every time Fen tried to examine one, his vision would get fuzzy and he'd rub his eyes. Opening them again, he found the symbol had been replaced by a different one; still indistinct, but different, without a doubt.

"62%" a voice said from behind Fen. Rather than looking behind him, Fen turned to look down the hall. He walked forward, no longer paying attention to the walls. Nor did he pay attention to the pillars placed every few yards along the hall, or even the live snakes that were wrapped around those pillars, hissing at him as he walked past.

Fen came to the end of the hall and dropped to one knee, bowing his head. "Master," he said in greeting.

"Hmph." It was the same voice that had been behind him at the entrance to the hall, but this time it came from the shadowy mist in front of him.

"You'll need to do better than that if you truly want to be my apprentice," the voice said.

Fen did not respond. There were a few moments of silence, then the voice began again.

"You were followed."

Fen's head shot up, and the voice's next words sounded amused with such a reaction.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" the voice chided. "Lara followed you all the way from Albany."

"Impossible," said Fen, though he sounded shocked and unconfident. "I checked several times. I dispelled all disillusionment charms in a 5 mile radius. I-"

"Forgot to account for Invisibility Cloaks," the voice interrupted. "Got distracted by a squirrel so you didn't notice a bush move against the wind. Had your hood up so high you couldn't see or hear the footsteps following you just 15 feet behind."

Fen swallowed and cursed himself inwardly for missing such obvious signs.

The voice paused, then asked, "Why are you dressed like that?"

"My identity..." Fen started uncertainly. As expected, the voice interrupted him again.

"Your identity can be hidden in far easier and less conspicuous ways than covering yourself head to toe in such suspicious clothing. Did you consider Polyjuice Potion? Or self-transfiguration? And your mannerisms! Anyone with half a brain could tell you were up to something. Being overly cautious is the bane of true stealth, more often than not. Had you the appearance of a regular No-Maj, out for a relaxing nature walk, you may have deceived even Lara."

Fen bit back his retort. Him? Disguise as a No-Maj? Disgusting. But the voice seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

"A wolf in sheep's clothing will always eat better than a wolf that howls to announce his approach. Believe me," the voice's tone changed to be deadly serious, the words sending a chill down Fen's spine, "no one has more reason to hate them than I."

The voice then returned to its previous tone, which was not unlike that of a strict teacher chastising an underachieving student. "You must learn to curb your pride if you are to fulfill your ambitions. Oh yes," said the voice, as Fen twitched involuntarily, "I know what you wish to do. I welcome you to try. But first you must prove yourself. If you do not, you will be destroyed, regardless of your true potential. And, I confess, seeing you fail in such a way would... displease me."

Fen wasn't sure how to feel about that. Does this mean he has more faith in me than he lets on? Fen thought. No... this person does not put store in things as vague or unreliable as faith. He knows I have potential. And if I've gotten him to recognize it...

Again, it seems as though the voice knew exactly what he was thinking. "Hubris has been the downfall of greater wizards than you. Do you not recall what happened in Britain, less than 3 decades ago? My own descendant failed to curb his own pride, and as a result lost everything in the worst way possible. I will say this plainly. You are not as talented as he was." And just like that, Fen felt his hopeful thoughts deflate. "However," the voice continued, "if you can avoid his mistakes, you will surpass him. Raw talent can only get one so far."

"There is a seer in Ontario who may be sympathetic to our cause. You will find them and bring them to Lara, be they willing or no. You will not allow them to die, and under no circumstances will you make your actions known to anyone besides myself, Lara, and the seer."

Fen knew he was being dismissed, and stood to leave. He paused with his hand on the doorknob. Without turning around, he said to the voice, "I found out who you are on my own. No one helped me with that." The voice did not respond.

Fen opened the door and stepped out onto the street. He saw a harbor ahead of him and smelled salt in the air. The door he had stepped out of belonged to a book store. Fen recognized it as the same bookstore where he had discovered his mentor's existence. Fen stood in front of it for a moment, then began walking down the Boston street in search of a No-Maj clothing store. After all, he thought to himself, the lessons of Salazar Slytherin should never be taken lightly.