9. I'm placing my faith in you
He sat in the center of the candlelit room with his legs folded, his hands on his knees, palms up. His eyes were closed and his breath was regulated, deep and slow. There was no sound in the room except the slow, steady, in and out of his breathing.
In.
Out.
Harry Potter didn't often meditate. He'd never been really good at it. His mind was far to chaotic and active to truly get any real benefit from it. At east that's what he thought kept him from mastering the art. It was the same reason he had for being unable to truly master Occlumency. He just could not calm his mind enough. His masters in Tibet had never been happy that he couldn't calm his mind. It was the only thing he had ever disappointed them with.
Yet he still tried occasionally. When things became too much, he found that meditation sometimes managed to center his thoughts, which permitted him to examine whatever was puzzling him from a different angle. It allowed him to somewhat filter out the outside world and give all of his attention to a single problem. Which is exactly what he was trying to do at the moment.
In.
Out.
It had been nearly three weeks since the attack in Diagon Alley. Three weeks since he'd faced the Aurors after saving two potential victims from a Death Eater attack. Three weeks since he'd spoken to Hermione Granger and seen the mark for himself. Three weeks without a clue as to why these particular girls were so important.
Since the incident in Diagon Alley, Harry had scoured through the Black Family library, trying to find books that might give a clue as to what Voldemort wanted these girls for.
He'd spent his nights patrolling his favorite haunts, hoping to catch another Death Eater. He wanted a chance to interrogate a Death Eater and learn for himself just what it was his enemy intended. There had been no dark robed figures for him to stalk, though he did notice a few more Auror patrols in the Alley.
For nearly three weeks he'd been met with nothing but failure. He was beginning to go crazy from all the failure, that's when he realized that he needed to recenter himself.
In.
Out.
Four girls in three attempts. In each instance, there had been mention of a mark, or the Death Eaters had actually checked the girls for this strange indicator. According to Hermione Granger, the symbol had just appeared on her body one day, though she could not say exactly when.
This meant that the mark which identified the girls had to have been placed on each girl. This could have been done by some sort of hex or charm or something. However, charms and hexes had to be applied physically, and that meant that Hermione and the other girls would have known exactly when the mark was applied, unless of course they had been obliviated afterwards. But why not take the girls then? That was an interesting thing to note.
In.
Out.
Another way that the girls could have gotten the mark would be if they had been born with it. But then why would Hermione have only noticed it recently. It was extremely unlikely that she wouldn't have noticed such a mark her whole life, given where it was. Harry could have understood if it had been on her back or another place she could see, but on her ribs, she would have noticed it at some point. On the other hand, it could have been so faint so as not to be noticed, which led back to it being charmed or hexed in order to be more clear, which then meant the girls would likely know when it appeared unless they had been alleviated. And Harry was back at the beginning.
In.
Out.
What if there was something larger at work, like a ritual? That made sense. The girls wouldn't have to be present for that. If a ritual had been performed to find girls that fit certain criteria then the mark would have appeared and they would have been none the wiser until they finally noticed the mark. It was perfectly plausible the Voldemort had found such a ritual and performed it. The Death Eaters would know where to look to confirm that their targets were in fact the girl they were meant to take. But this begged the question of how the Death Eaters were locating each girl. The answer was likely some sort of enhanced locater spell.
In.
Out.
So why these girls? What made the so special to Voldemort. What was it that they possessed that he needed from them? This was the crux of the problem. Did they pose some sort of threat to him? Unlikely. Given what Harry knew of Voldemort, if these girls were indeed a serious threat to him, he wouldn't likely trust his followers to find the girls. Unless of course he was too weak to seek them out himself. After all Dumbledore had died from the wounds he'd sustained fighting Voldemort.
So maybe these girls had something he wanted. But what could that be? Harry knew that Voldemort was an extremely powerful wizard. So what could he possibly want? To rue Britain? Harry didn't think the girls held the key to that pipe dream. What was it that Voldemort wanted more than anything that he couldn't gain through terror, murder, coercion, and destruction. What was it that he desired more than anything?
Infamy?
No, he had that in spades. People were still afraid to say his name.
Power?
No. He had that, through years of study and who knows what else he had done. Harry wouldn't imagine there were any moral limits on a wizard willing to split their soul half a dozen times. Sirius had said that as far as power was concerned, only Dumbledore could match him, though the old mage's skill may have offset the 50 years he had on Riddle. With Dumbledore dead, power was unlikely to be his goal. Then what did he want?
Mass genocide?
Okay, now this was getting ridiculous. Harry was beginning to feel like even his meditation was going to fail him. What good could anyone gain from mass genocide? If you killed everyone, you'd have no one to rule.
And then something tugged at his mind. The Death Eaters were hunting these girls for him. He was too weak to find these girls himself. Dumbledore had died from the wounds he'd suffered at Voldemort's hands, and it was likely that Voldemort was gravely injured as well, maybe so badly that he could not recover without...
"Above all else, Lord Voldemort fears the unknown, which is exactly what awaits us all in death."
That had been what Albus Dumbledore had told Harry three years ago. That night when Harry had learned everything. The night that it had been discovered that a piece of Voldemort was inside of Harry.
"He's trying to cheat death again." Harry said opening his eyes suddenly. In an instant he was on his feet and leaving the room, intent on checking out something in his study.
Harry didn't know how, but these girls held something that would very likely prolong Voldemort's life. The horcruxes were all gone, Dumbledore and Master Kai had seen to that. There was nothing keeping Voldemort here, he was mortal. He was dying, just like Dumbledore had, and he was trying to keep Death at bay. The girls were they key.
"And he's already managed to kill some of them." He slipped into the room that was now covered with photos, notes and newspaper clippings. He went to his right and began searching the wall until he came across an article. He went to a small table and took a pin and a spool of red twine. He tacked the pin to the article and then the string, before looking for another article, which he found a moment later.
Two girls found in different places, both naked and covered in strange markings. Two girls, and rumor had it there was a third that the Aurors weren't talking about. Three girls killed, and three more attacked and nearly taken. Six. Voldemort had created six Horcruxes originally. Harry had inadvertently become the seventh. Seven was one of the strongest magical numbers… except thirteen.
That meant there were either seven of thirteen marked girls, and Voldemort was going to kill them all to gain his immortality.
But why these girls specifically? He was looking for something very specific. That's why they had been marked. There was something special about them. Maybe they were the most powerful girls in their age group? Maybe they had something in common that bonded them. Maybe they were part of Voldemort's favorite dance troupe.
Harry let out a growl of frustration. He was no closer to solving this riddle than he'd been an hour ago.
Well that wasn't true. He was now certain that he knew why Voldemort wanted the girls. But he needed to be sure. He needed an ally to confirm that the dead girls also bore the mark. He needed to know if they were indeed connected to all of this.
Harry sighed and turned to head to his armory. Tonight was going to be very interesting.
Appearing on the roof of the Monico building with a quiet pop, Tonks immediately scanned for threats. The location was normally supposed to be inaccessible to Muggles, which made it an excellent secret meeting place. The giant neon signs that made the location an icon at Piccadilly Circus also served to give unpredictable lighting conditions as one or another sign would change colors or intensity - or both.
The wind cut across the heights and the Auror shivered from the bitter cold. She noted many large shapes on the roof, likely cooling machinery, which cast deep shadows away from the strange, colorful backdrop. She carefully worked her way over to cover, blending into the shadows herself. Even her hair color was muted for this mission, a dusky charcoal color that blended perfectly into the shadows around her.
There were a lot of places someone could hide and lay in wait until she showed up. That's why she had scanned the site from nearby rooftops for the last twenty minutes. It also gave her a short distance and line of sight to her destination, all of which allowed for her quiet pop when she apparated over. Despite all of her caution, she still felt exposed.
"This is stupid, I should get Kingsley." She peered into the gloom, scowling at the sudden, unpredictable, bright flashes of light. "This is so stupid. This is how stupid people get killed."
Everything about her present situation screamed that this was a trap. And yet, here she was, spinning slowly with her wand raised, ready to destroy anyone who popped out at her. She might have been stupid in coming here alone, but she wasn't a pushover, and whoever planned on killing her wasn't going to have it easy.
It had started with a note. A blank envelope had shown up on her desk, dropped off by a ordinary barn owl. The Owl had waited until she had been alone, dropped the note and flew away. There was nothing remarkable about the note. Nothing special about the parchment either. There was no sign of charms or curses on, or within the envelope. She had checked it thoroughly before she had even touched it.
The message was simple. Please come to the Monico building at eight pm. Come alone. I have questions, and I have answers. And it had been signed… a friend.
It had been the questions and answers that had intrigued her so much. What questions? What answers? Tonks felt compelled to come. Which then led to her checking herself for compulsions charms of which there were none. Whoever it was that wanted to meet wanted to help her, but also needed her help. It had been far to intriguing.
And so here she was. Moving from shadow to shadow. Eyes straining, senses alert for any noise or movement, looking for any signs of a trap.
When she had searched the whole roof and found nothing, she went to the edge and peered down at the bustling crowd. It was very cold tonight, and the people below were bundled up as they went to dinner, or shopped, or just visited with friends or maybe family. Part of Tonks' heart gave a small pang of guilt. She hadn't spoken to her own parents in a couple of years.
Well, that wasn't accurate. She'd received a few notes from her father to check up on her, and keep her appraised of the situation at home, but she hadn't written back. A fact that filled her with deep shame when she allowed herself to think about it.
Tonks and her mother had had a sort of falling out due largely to the fact that Tonks wanted to be an Auror. Tonks' father had been supportive, but her mother hadn't. She was worried. Scared that her daughter, her only child, could be hurt or killed. Especially given that Voldemort had risen from the dead.
There had been an argument, and things were said that couldn't be taken back. Tonks hated herself when she thought about that night. She wished that she could just swallow her damned pride and apologize. She missed her parents deeply, and especially now that she had a legitimate boyfriend in bill Weasley, she wanted to share that with them. She wanted to have dinners with her parents the way she and Bill would have dinner at the Weasley home.
"Someday." Tonks whispered to herself.
She turned quickly back to surveying the roof, mentally kicking herself for becoming so distracted. The young Auror was not a fool, she had arrived quite early, scanning the area for magical signatures before arriving on the roof itself. She had carefully searched the rooftop's many dark recesses for anyone laying in wait. Yet, despite all of her preparation, her 'told you so voice' - Moody's voice - was proven correct.
"Auror Tonks." Came a voice from her left. Actually it sounded like several voices.
Moody's voice had been right, it was a trap.
Tonks spun around faster than she had ever moved before, and remarkably kept her balance, which was quite good, considering how close to the edge of the roof she had been standing. She tried not to worry too much about her tendency to be a klutz, instead focusing on her training, letting her instincts guide her wand hand. She stared down her wand tip at the chest of the closest attacker, someone in a black hood and dark dragon hide armor.
The young Auror was conflicted. While she was proud that she had reacted so competently, she was cursing herself for getting caught off guard - even though she could have sworn the roof was clear. Setting her frustrations aside, she silently snapped off a disarming charm followed by a pair of stunners in a smooth, oft-practiced combination. The last two spells tightly bracketed her target as Moody had taught her, so that when the black clad figure tried to dodge he'd step into one of the stunners.
But her spells never made contact. Tonks gasped when the figure in black raised a hand and a brilliant electric blue shield formed and actually absorbed her spells. They didn't bounce off. They were ABSORBED! She'd never seen that in her life.
However, before she could begin to comprehend it, her wand arm gave a jerk, and she watched helplessly as her wand sailed into the hand of her attacker. She only just realized that he not only held no wand, but that he also hadn't uttered a word. Yet there he was slipping her wand into his armor as if it had always belonged to him. She felt like a fool, even worse than her first lessons with Mad-Eye, and that made her furious.
She had no other choice then.
With a cry of unbridled rage, Tonks lunged at the black clad figure and attacked with a combination of kicks and strikes that had always taken down perps in the past; they were always so shocked that a girl would hit them.
He blocked every attempt, and backed away from her. Tonks pressed her attack, but the hooded figure kept her back with almost no effort. Despite her best moves, none of her kicks or punches was making contact. The hood simply dodged and danced just out of her reach. Never once did her opponent try and fight back.
"Auror Tonks, I'm not here to fight you." The choir of voices said almost pleadingly.
"You're not about to fucking kill me, you psycho!" Tonks shouted, readying herself for another barrage.
"I have no intention of attempting such a thing. I want to help you!" The choir said, and Tonks was brought up short. It suddenly occurred to the Auror that this man had not made one threatening move. Could he really just want to talk to her? She was breathing heavily, but she stepped back from him, eyeing him suspiciously.
He kept his hands up, ready in case she attempted another attack, though he did take another two steps back from her.
"Innocent girls are being killed. I need you to help me put an end to it." The choir said as he lowered one hand and retrieved Tonks' wand from his armor, offering it back to her in a sign of peace. Tonks slowly and hesitantly reached out, and then snatched it away. She kept her wand at her side, ready, but not aiming at him... for now.
"Why don't we start with your name then." Tonks said, eyeing him suspiciously. She took a moment to size up the hooded man. Tonks had enough experience with the opposite sex to recognize the male form, even with him staying in the shadows as much as possible. He was slim, though she could tell from the way his leather armor hugged his arms that he was well muscled. She figured his armor must have had warming charms on it. She also couldn't help feel a bit impressed by another part of his anatomy. The arms weren't the only part of his armor that were tight.
"I'm a friend." He replied with the melodic chorus, ignoring her request. "The Death Eaters are hunting girls who bear a special mark on their left sides. This mark."
He reached inside his armor and pulled out a piece of parchment, which he offered to her. Tonks took it and gaped. There was a drawing of an oval with an off center cross. The mark that had been on each victim as well as Hannah Abbott, Lisa Turpin, and Mandy Brocklehurst.
"How do you know about this?" Tonks asked incredulously.
"One of the girls revealed it to me following an attack that I stopped." The hooded man said.
"And you think that the Death Eaters are trying to kidnap these girls for a wizard who's dead?" Tonks challenged.
"If Voldemort had truly died, Albus Dumbledore would never have sent for me." The hooded figure said grimly.
"So now I'm supposed to believe that you knew Dumbledore?" Tonks said disbelievingly.
"I never knew him. In fact we only ever spoke twice." The hooded man shook his head sadly. "But it's because of him that I'm alive, and why I'm here now, asking for your help."
"You're going to need to explain yourself a little better." Tonks replied.
"Another time perhaps." The chorus replied.
"Okay, okay, then answer this: Why do you need me?" Tonks asked sullenly.
"I need an Auror who can help me get information on Death Eaters, and more importantly for now… information on the three girls who were found. Did they have that mark on their bodies? Specifically on their left ribs just beside their breast?"
"I can't discuss an on-going investigation." Tonks said, though she kept hearing Alastor Moody's voice telling her to trust her gut again. And right now her gut was telling her that this stranger truly wanted to help. She couldn't say for certain why, though the mention of Dumbledore had definitely given her pause.
"I should be arresting you, you've killed people." She said, her tone growing colder. "Madame Bones wants you taken in by any means."
"I won't deny that I have killed, and I won't try to convince you that I won't kill again." The chorus said earnestly. "I take no pleasure in it, but those I kill have escaped justice in one form or another, and they've all gone on to hurt or kill again and again. They have kept people in fear for too long, and it's time for someone to make them afraid."
"As much as I may agree with you, I took an oath." Tonks argued, though it tasted sour on her lips. "I'm sworn to protect…"
"And that's all I'm asking you to do." He said quickly. He reached into a pocket again and then held something out to her. Tonks saw what appeared to be a coin in his gloved hand. It was small, smaller than a knut, but was gold with a square cut into the center. There were markings on it that Tonks thought could have been Chinese.
"Tap it with your wand and think of the place and time you'd like to meet, and I will come. Think about it. I can help you end the war for good, if you help me by giving me the information I need. More innocent people will die if we don't work together. Neither of us want that."
Tonks took the coin and gave him a questioning look.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked.
The hooded man stepped backwards towards the edge of the roof.
"You don't." He replied. "But I'm placing my faith in you."
Tonks watched him, and then suddenly started to cry out a warning as he stepped off the roof. She ran to the edge and looked down to the street to find he had disappeared. He must have disapparated because the people below were going about their lives as if nothing had changed. There was no body splayed out on the cement, he was just gone.
She stared in wonder at the coin he had given her. Clutching it in her palm, Tonks' mind raced with questions. She had to find out more about the situation before she decided whether or not to help a vigilante. Tonks could only think of two people who might have answers. One of them she would need to get permission to speak to, but the other… well, hopefully he wouldn't freak out too much from an unexpected late night visit.
Neville Longbottom stepped off the plane and began to the trek out of Heathrow Airport. He had come to really hate traveling as a muggle. It was slow and tedious, and people were really annoying. However, it had been necessary. Or at least his grandmother had said it had been. And Neville never argued with his grandmother.
He had no need to pick up any luggage as his bags were shrunken and in his coat pocket. Neville made his way through the concourse, where travelers were reuniting with friends and family, and outside, past a line of taxis and hired cars.
The young man smiled softly to himself as he walked towards the parking lots where a secret apparition point was set up. Neville, like many wizards, often found the need to travel incognito, and places like this were set up all over the world. It wasn't too different from the secret barrier in King's Cross Station.
He was happy to be home. He hadn't expected to be able to come home so soon, but a letter from his grandmother had managed to find him and the contents of the letter told him that his search was in vain. The answers they sought might have returned to England shortly after his journey had begun.
Reaching his destination, he gave a quick look around to make sure he wasn't being observed, spun and disappeared with a pop that was hidden by the roar of a jetliner taking to the sky.
Neville appeared in the foyer of Longbottom Manor, and was immediately greeted by a small creature with bat-like ears, and large, violet eyes.
"Master Neville is returned!" the creature squeaked.
"It's good to see you, Sam." Neville greeted the House Elf, who held out his hands, waiting for Neville to hand over his luggage. "Where is Gran?"
"Mistress awaits you in the study. She is most anxious to speak with you." Sam said, his face glowing with delight.
Neville handed over his luggage and Sam disappeared as Neville made his way to the study. There he found his grandmother, a strong looking woman with steel gray hair and dark, piercing eyes sitting at a large, mahogany desk, reading a letter.
"Gran?"
"Neville!" Augusta Longbottom rose with a smile on her face. She crossed the room and embraced her grandson warmly, pulling back to look him over. "You look well. Travel agrees with you."
"Some of it." Neville smiled. "Though I think I could do without airplanes. They're too cramped and they smell weird."
"Where did Samson find you?" Augusta asked, going back to her chair as Neville took a seat across from her. The matron called for another house elf, Delilah, who popped into and was politely ordered to bring tea. When the elf disappeared again, Augusta turned back to her grandson.
"I was in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia, I think, heading East on another lead. I was thinking about heading to South Africa after that. There was rumor that they had been there, but I couldn't confirm it. I suppose none of that matters now?" Neville sighed.
"I've been trying for three months to get you home." Augusta said, as she folded her hands in her lap. Delilah returned with a tea tray and some small sandwiches. Neville thanked the elf and took a sandwich.
"Your letter said they had returned? When did it happen?" Neville asked.
"Well, only Black returned, publicly at least. He's taken his family seat on the Wizengamot, and he's already making waves. There's been talk about revoking his seat, but you know how long that process would take. But what's more interesting is this."
Augusta handed over an old copy of The Daily Prophet, which Neville scanned. Neville skipped the articles about the Chudley Cannons and another about the goblins threatening to raise interest rates on loans. He found a circled section below an ad for Madam Malkin's.
Relative of High Ranking Ministry Official Saved by Vigilante
Susan Bones, niece of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, was rescued by a hooded hero last Friday night. She and a friend, Hannah Abbott, were attacked by masked assailants, who sources claim could have been Death Eaters. While there has been no official statement from the Aurors or the Ministry, sources claim that the girls were set upon by Death Eater copycats, and rescued by a man in black who was then chased away by Aurors. The Aurors have been very tight lipped about this, and another incident which involved the murder of Albert Runcorn. Runcorn, 38, was found with the Dark Mark, leading to questions about whether or not he had been a true Death Eater during He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's second rise, before his fatal duel with Albus Dumbledore. Neither Miss Bones nor Miss Abbott have been available for remarks as they have been placed under Auror protection.
"A vigilante?" Neville looked up.
"There are more stories, all buried within the paper. I've spoken to Templeton Redmane, who seems to be the only one reporting on this. He's facing a lot of criticism, and he even showed me some of the stories he wrote that were rejected by Peter Pettigrew, the Prophet's Editor." Augusta explained.
"It could be a coincidence." Neville said, though he didn't believe in coincidences.
"It could, but I don't think so, and I know you don't either." Augusta smiled. "Sirius Black returning to England so soon after Dumbledore's death, and the sudden appearance of this vigilante stopping Death Eaters who tried to abduct young girls. You-Know-Who is not as dead as we were told, and Harry Potter has returned. And you know what that means."
"I do." Neville nodded, a small smile playing across his lips. "Revenge will be ours."
"So let me see if I understand this." Alastor Moody said, shuffling from the stove to the table with two steaming mugs of tea, one of which he passed to his guest with a wry smirk on his grizzled face.
"You get an anonymous note asking you to meet someone at a location of their choosing and you don't tell your partner or anyone else for that matter and you just…go?" Moody said sitting down.
"I told you there was nothing to tell me that it was a trap." Tonks argued.
"And yet everything inside you was telling you it was." Moody reminded his protégé of what she had told him earlier.
"Can we just get past what I did wrong and talk about what I should do going forward?" Tonks pleaded. Moody gave a soft chuckle as he sipped his tea and then nodded.
"Alright, alright." The old Auror chuckled some more. "So this guy in the hood needs information to stop the Dark Wanker who he says is still alive and kicking. He also says that the reason Death Eaters are abducting these girls is for Voldemort.
"That was the gist of it. He also said Dumbledore sent for him." Tonks added.
"Yeah." Moody nodded looked pensive for a moment before he fixed Tonks with a hard stare with both of his mismatched eyes.
"As it turns out, I may know a thing or two about this." Moody sighed.
"WHAT?" Tonks shrieked. "Mad-Eye, why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell us? Who is he? Why is he here? What the fuck is going on?"
"Calm down lass." Moody said. "I couldn't say anything. I made a promise to Dumbledore on his death bed for Merlin's sake. I don't know who he is, but I do know that he wasn't pulling your chain either. Voldemort is alive somewhere. If he were truly gone, the Death Eaters would have crawled into hiding. The fact that they've been seen numerous times is proof that Voldemort is still leading them."
"So this guy in he hood is going to stop them how?" Tonks wondered.
Moody only shrugged. "I don't know, and he didn't say."
"You've fucking talked to him?" Tonks nearly fell out of her chair with the impact of this revelation.
"He paid me a visit not too far back." Moody stated. "Wanted some information. Like I said, Dumbledore let me know that someone was coming to end all this once and for all. Little bastard bested me in my own home, and made it through my wards."
"Morgana's tits, Mad-Eye!" Tonks shouted in disbelief. "Who the hell is this guy? If he can get through your wards, what's stopping him from taking out the Minister, or anyone else he wants? This guy… we need to take him down. He's fucking dangerous."
"And yet, he didn't do any of that." Moody pointed out. "He asked you for help. From what I heard, he tried to show he was on our side in Diagon Alley… what was it… three weeks ago? Managed not only to evade capture, but made you lot look like bunch of first years who didn't know which way to point their wands. He could have killed me right in my own living room, but he didn't. Just knocked me on my ass so I would stop fighting and listen to him. Same as he did to you tonight."
"Minus knocking me on my ass." Tonks clarified.
"Respects a lady I guess." Moody sniggered. "The point is that he isn't here to just kill blindly. He has an agenda and that agenda seems to be the same as yours. Stop Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Something he clearly doesn't think he can do without your help. So the question here Nymphadora, is whether or not you want the same thing as he does."
"How do I know I can trust him?" Tonks asked after a long pause.
"How does he know he can trust you?" Moody suggested. "For all he knows, you could be back at Auror Headquarters planning his capture right now."
"Said he was putting his faith in me." Tonks remembered. "And then he stepped off that roof like it was nothing. Vanished into thin air without so much as a pop."
"Yeah… he pulled something similar here. Scared the piss outta me for sure. Never seen anyone disapparate without making some kind of sound."
"You think I should help him." Tonks asked.
"I think that all you Aurors might do good by leaving this guy to his crusade." Moody sighed. "You lot did good in this last war, but you didn't manage to end it. Even with Dumbledore helping you couldn't end it, and Voldemort is still out there, rebuilding his forces for another attempt. He had a contingency plan in place, and now he's putting that plan into motion, and we don't know when he'll strike or how hard. We can't prepare for it because we don't know what he's doing. But this guy in the hood seems at least to have some kind of clue. Dumbledore had a contingency plan to counter Voldemort, and this guy seems to be it. I say if we have any sort of hope of true peace… we need to put our faith in this hood."
Tonks nodded thoughtfully. Moody had made a really good point. And even if she couldn't have faith in the guy in the hood… she could have faith that Dumbledore knew what he was doing in calling this guy to finish what he couldn't.
She only hoped that she wouldn't regret it.
