Chapter eleven: meeting Dietrich

Throwing off the invisibility cloak, Harry crossed the room to Ginny. With a wave of his wand and a whispered spell, the ropes binding her disappeared. Opening her eyes more fully, she lifted her head to look at him.

"Oh…it's you."

Harry raised a finger to his lips. "We thought you were dead," he whispered, "they must have not taken the basket in the truck."

"What?"

"Nothing, how'd you get here?"

"Don't really know, by the time the stunning spell wore off, I was lying here, tied up. I haven't seen anybody. They took my wand; would you mind getting me some water?"

Harry quickly conjured a wooden goblet, filling it with water. Sitting up, Ginny downed it. Harry refilled the goblet, and this time she splashed some of the water over her face, washing off the dried blood.

"Where am I? I haven't seen anything outside of this room."

"You're in a tent in the Tanis dig site. It's just after sunset. Bill's here to, we've just been to the map room. We know where the Well of Souls is."

"That's good, think you could heal me before we go, hurts more than anything."

Harry doubted that, but he said nothing the matter. "I'm sorry about this," he whispered, raising his wand.

"About what?" realization dawned on Ginny's face, "Don't even-" she tried to say more, but her next words were obscured as the thin magical ropes once again curled around her, binding and gagging her tightly

"Look, if they find you missing, they'll know somebody's here. I'll come back to get you after we find the Ark, I promise." Harry swept the cloak back over himself, and hurried out of the tent, trying to forget Ginny's hurt expression.

Appreciatively, Harry noticed that it was a bit cooler now that night had fallen. The camp was less busy, as most of the workers and Death Eaters retired to their tents, or began the walk to point where apparation became safe.

Harry was in a very good mood. They had found the Ark's resting place, and it would be gone before morning, right under Dietrich's nose. Even better, Ginny wasn't as dead as he'd feared.

"I don't see why you're keeping the blood traitor alive, she's no use to us." Hearing Malfoy's voice, Harry ducked into an alcove between two tents. Malfoy was walking toward him, next to him was Hernon Dietrich.

It was the first time Harry had seen Dietrich in person, he had seen photographs, but none of them had really done the man justice. He was tall, taller than Malfoy, and very fit, handsome despite his age. He had a neatly trimmed short beard, a different shade of gray then his eyes. He wore a dark green suit. While it was obvious that Azkaban had made it's mark on him, his face was not nearly as shallow and hollowed out as that of Sirius Black or Bellatrix Lestrange after their time spent in the wizard prison. Harry mainly attributed this to the lack of Dementors.

"Blood traitor she may be, as you keep reminding me Draco," said Dietrich, his voice was low and smooth, almost hypnotic. "She still most likely retains certain information about both Harry Potter, and the Ark in general. Information that I would rather posses than the short-lived pleasure of killing her immediately."

"Should I get Toht, then," said Malfoy, who, Harry was pleased to note, disliked the way Dietrich used his first name.

"No, no, not yet. I would prefer to try the Weasley girl myself first. It I prove unsuccessful, you may call for Arnold Toht, who I'm sure will be thrilled."

"Yes, sir," said Malfoy, separating from Dietrich to walk toward the groups of wizards trailing away from the incorrect dig site for the Well of Souls.

Feeling that Ginny would soon be having visitors and that that would not be good, Harry heightened his efforts to find Bill.

It didn't take long for harry to find to find Bill. He was standing with a dozen other diggers, above the place where, according to the map room, the Well of Souls resided. Harry was pleased to see that, while near to the incorrect dig site; they were hidden from the rest of the camp by a tall sand dune.

"Hey," Harry pulled of the invisibility cloak beside Bill, who jumped. The eyes of all the surrounding men migrated to his forehead. "Let's get that Ark. If we work quickly, we'll have it en route to England by morning." They cheered.

"Well, you're cheerful," Bill said, so that only Harry could hear.

"Ginny's alive, they've brought her here. We'll take her with us; I'll get her once we have the Ark. We have to hurry though, Malfoy wants to hand her over to Toht."

Bill nodded, and without another word, drove his shovel into the sand.

Ginny was in much worse mood than Harry. While she understood why he had left her, it really did make sense; she still didn't like it. Now she was back on the floor, tied so tightly she could barely move. It didn't help at all that her wound hurt. Hurt enough that, upon regaining consciousness, it had taken all her willpower not to scream.

"Ginny Weasley, I believe that is your name, is it not?" Rolling over as best as she could, Ginny could see Hernon Dietrich standing at the tent's entrance. He was varying much as Harry had described him, but he had a sort of presence that could only be felt when meeting him in person. Not nearly as strong as that of Lord Voldemort, but still strong enough to be felt. "If I'm not mistaken, Ginny is shot for Ginevra. Not a common name in any setting.

"You know, I apologize for how they've treated you. I had no idea." With an absent wave of Dietrich's wand, the magical ropes binding her vanished. "I believe Mr. Malfoy saw fit to snap your wand in two. Most unfortunate. I am beginning to tire of that man, even though he is my nephew. Still, you are alive, which is always better than the alternative."

Ginny had not spent very much time speaking to Albus Dumbledore, it had usually been Harry he confided in, but from what she remembered, Dietrich, horrible as the notion was, reminded her a great deal of the late headmaster.

"Oh, and I'll have to get rid of that too," he continued, waving his wand once more. She felt a second of intense pain from her wound, and then all feeling of it was gone. Feeling through the long tear in her shirt, she felt only smooth skin. Not only that, but, while still clinging to her clothes, every speck of dried blood had gone from her skin. The deceivingly simple spellwork had even gone so far to comb the snarls and dirt from her hair.

"That's better," said Dietrich. "Now, what's missing?" Ginny said nothing, she was impressed, but she didn't want to let it show.

"Ah yes," he glanced at Ginny's torn and bloody clothes. Almost subconsciously, or so it appeared, he conjured a white cardboard box from thin air. "Please, take the time to change. We will talk afterwards."

Still saying nothing, Ginny took the box. With one last look at Dietrich, she moved behind the privacy screen. Not surprisingly, the box was filled with clothes. They were more formal than she preferred, a knee-length brown skirt, white long-sleeved blouse with two buttons at the collar, which she left undone, and flat dress shoes. Still, they fit her perfectly, which only made her more impressed with Dietrich's magical skill, and were highly preferable to the clothes she had been wearing, which were crusty with a layer of dried sweat and blood.

Ginny changed quickly, not knowing what to do with the, mostly ruined, clothes she had worn since the battle, she left them in a heap on the carpet.

Dietrich's was sitting at the table, across from him an identical chair; neither had been there when she had gone behind the screen. The table had been set for two, complete with food. Ginny wondered where it had come from; she remembered that food was one of the few things that could not be created through magic.

Ginny sat, and after slight hesitation, began to eat, she hadn't realized it before, but she was very hungry. The food was very good, though she hadn't bothered to check what it was. The only thing she did acknowledge was the wine, which she left untouched, thinking that this would quite likely be the worst time in her life to get drunk.

Dietrich ate and drank, albeit much slower and more politely than Ginny. Once she had slowed down he spoke again. "You know, I don't think you've said a thing since I came in. I would very much like it if you did."

"Why do you want the Ark?" said Ginny, though she felt she already knew.

Dietrich sighed, "I was afraid you would begin with something like that. While the Ark of the Covenant has both symbolic and worldly value, it is, as I'm sure you already know, an extremely powerful artifact."

"So you just want power for power's sake, just like Voldemort, didn't work to well for him, did it. Harry stopped him, and he'll stop you too."

"The dark lord's downfall was not from his love of power, but from his obsession with immortality. Unlike the dark lord, I do not want to live forever. I simply want to be remembered as the man who found the fabled lost Ark and used it to bring some much-needed order back into the wizarding world.

"And now, Miss Weasley, we come to the real reason I want to speak to you."

"Harry?"

"Information, concerning Harry Potter and his own quest for the Ark. How far along is he, where is he staying, does he still have the second headpiece, has he translated it yet."

Ginny shrugged, "He never tells me anything."

"I very much doubt that."

"Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you, would I?"

"It will be much better for you if you do. Unlike Draco, I see no need for you to die. However, if you remain uncooperative there is no need for you to be kept alive either."

"I am cooperating. I'm eating your food, I'm wearing the clothes you gave me, and I haven't stabbed you with my steak knife yet. I'm just telling you, I honestly don't know."

Dietrich sat back. "Unfortunately, I have never been any good at legilimency, and here in the desert we are sadly lacking in veritaserum, so that leaves me with my final option."

Dietrich stood up. With a wave of his wand he vanished the food, plates and glasses from the table. While his own chair disappeared, Ginny's remained, as did her borrowed clothes, thankfully.

"Remember, I did give you a chance," with one last flick Dietrich's wand, black ropes once more curled around Ginny, binding her to her chair. With that, Dietrich left, not giving her a second glance.

Less than a minute after his departure, a second, much shorter, wizard entered. Arnold Toht. He was dressed as he had been in Nepal. Toht shrugged off his black trench coat, laying it on the table.

She gasped slightly upon seeing his right hand. An exact copy of one side of the Staff of Ra headpiece had been burned into it, where the headpiece had burned into his hand. Though Ginny didn't know it, this was how the Death Eaters had been able to get a one-sided replica of the headpiece.

Standing across the table at her, he took a long look at Ginny, and giggled. Raising his wand, which, Ginny realized, was uncommonly short, only six inches long, and made of black wood, he spoke for the first time still whispering, though she had no trouble hearing him.

"And now, Miss Weasley, what shall we talk about first?"