The Light of Discovery, Part I
While Harry and Grant tried to stay awake and keep ears open, there came some twig snapping and leaf rustling from the surrounding trees.
They were too far to hear some unusually loud ones, like branch snapping from seven pairs of feet that were to perch upon it, one heavier than the others.
Soaring above the isle, actually several metres away, were three translucent blue umbrella shapes emanating from two wands. Each of them dripping with water as to protect the traveling parties of witches and wizards on broomsticks;
Leading the way was Dumbledore keeping his eyes forward, as the broom rider behind him was looking down, trying not to tilt his oversized head. After all, it may very well have been enough for Hagrid to weigh them down.
Not far behind, Sirius narrowed his eyes at Dumbledore, as a long search without finds can make one weary, especially in kilometres of ocean. Behind him, Madam Bones would have agreed, had she not been so occupied trying to keep Arabella Figg wedged between them, who herself, was trying to keep her eyes closed.
"He's either completely lost or dead on the inside," Bones muttered.
On the last broom, an impatient looking Tonks was doing her best not to make lewd gestures at her former headmaster. Though it may have helped that behind her, Remus Lupin was holding her hands down, securing them to the broom, which she seemed to enjoy the feeling of.
They spotted Sirius, Figg, and Bones lunging towards Dumbledore with no more blue or further drops sliding off. Finally realizing the rain had stopped, Tonks cancelled their umbrella spell and shot after them, slightly knocking Remus off, as he may have not had much flying practice in years.
"I suppose that genius of yours hasn't shriveled up yet, has it?" Sirius barked.
"We've found a sign yet, have we Sirius?" Dumbledore queried.
"Well, we haven't found a whole unexplored ocean, have we, Dumbledore?!" Sirius replied.
As Tonks and Remus caught up, the former was clearly irritated over soaring above nothing but crystal blue for hours, while the latter seemed unsure about doubting his former headmaster. Although if he couldn't hide any embarrassment, most likely from being caught holding onto her.
"Albus, we..." Lupin began.
"Dumbledore, we've been looking all afternoon!" Tonks interrupted. "Do you even know what time it is? Or where the others have gotten off to?"
"Now Nymphadora..." Dumbledore gently chided.
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" she gritted through her teeth. "I reckon I speak for all of us... all except Hagrid. He hasn't peeped quite yet at all, has he?"
"Tonks..." Remus tried.
"Profess'r Dumbledore, sir!" Hagrid interrupted. "Down the're!"
Hagrid stretched his arm downward, no doubt turning the broomstick on its side, their wrapped legs clinging as he gestured to a tiny green speck shaped like the one from Dr. Grant's map, the tip of his dustbin handle-sized index finger stretching towards the eastern coastline.
"There's a lit'le island down there, profess'r," Hagrid pointed out. "Why don' we stop down there fer a little bit?"
"For once, I agree with Hagrid, Dumbledore," Sirius added.
The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes brightened as he kicked himself and Hagrid back into bearing.
"A wise decision indeed, Sirius," he complimented. "It seems a fair place to switch courses, does it not?"
"Albus!" Bones gasped.
But Dumbledore had already lunged towards the eastern coast, expertly pinpointing Hagrid's direction, who himself was squeezing tightly.
"You might as well," Figg suggested.
"Enough said?" Tonks implied over her shoulder.
"Right," Remus sighed as they followed suit.
Both parties lunged after Dumbledore and Hagrid, who were far ahead of them. But two of the elder fliers by then learned never to let their age get in the way of instinct in times of urgency, thus the speck grew larger by the minute; Flocks of green stretched into view until they narrowed over the coast.
"Albus, have you gone mad?!" Bones cried. "Avoiding the center of this isle, where muggles couldn't possibly..."
All it took was the near splash of a wave on her feet to notice there didn't seem to be much of a shore; only green rock sinking into the ocean.
"Honestly Amy," Sirius humoured. "I reckon even someone a touch more peculiar than Muggles wouldn't have any use for this rock. More than the usual lot, anyway."
"How do you suppose that?" Arabella questioned.
"Do purebloods go on the hunt for a family island?" Sirius suggested, teasingly.
"Do they?" Bones asked dryly.
"Well, mine hasn't," Sirius replied.
"...yet!" Tonks finished.
Behind them, the waves jumped much higher as Tonks couldn't keep herself from yiping, as her boots and the low end of her clothes were quite soaked.
"Were you thinking of buying?" Lupin teased as the others began to laugh, including Madam Bones, few of which had seen laugh before.
But Tonks could sometimes be too proud, as she shot a glare to Lupin, though it was really more of a pout.
"A pity you aren't my Mum," she grumbled. "I could hex you to bits."
"Of course," Lupin continued.
"It's true!" Tonks insisted. "Isn't that right, Bonesy?"
"Honestly, Tonks," Bones began. "As charmed as I am by one's tenacity, I'd expect a new Auror to be easily distracted."
But Amelia Bones herself was to be distracted enough herself soon. Not so much by hot mist bursting from crevices separated by mountains and trees, fogging Dumbledore's spectacles or her monocle, as one other beat her to making suggestions.
It was he who'd tossed their broomstick off course, spitting out collected liquids, rubbing them from his eyes although Dumbledore's umbrella spell was still active.
"Profess'r!" Hagrid boomed. "We need 'o make base!"
"Further in, Hagrid," Dumbledore insisted.
But the further in the party flew, the more they hovered over green flocks, until the mountains finally descended. Yet as they flew lower, they found themselves dropping into a tangled brush of branches.
Green leaves and vines, undoubtedly soaked, whacked them in the face, drenching a few heads of hair and robes, while their feet ran over the branch tips.
Their crash landing was met as they tripped over the thickest branch they'd seen. But as Hagrid's feet were the last to perch, some snapping was heard as the branch broke from the tree and the party fell to a lower branch. But the impact was great enough to achieve the same results as everyone fell from that branch to the ground.
Fortunately it was only a few stories, and the last to crash was the first to land. Once Hagrid was on the ground, the others had him to fall upon. Their need to dismount was eliminated, although there was quite a bit of groaning from those laying stomach down.
With Hagrid absorbing the shock, Dumbledore sprung up lightly, but Hagrid stretched out his arm for Tonks to slide off of him, dragging Lupin with her. Sirius and Figg rolled off his stomach, but Bones already stood staunchly in the dirt.
"I've heard of clean, wholesome fun, but this is really stretching it," Sirius sighed.
"Ever enough perhaps, Black?" Bones groaned.
Once Hagrid stood up, he clasped his dustbin hand to his stomach, accidentally hitting his head on another branch. He and the others brushed any leaves they'd gathered from their robes and hair, as Dumbledore drew his wand, with the umbrella spell out.
"Lumos," he softly commanded as the tip began to glow.
Miss Figg was about to open her mouth, until she'd noticed her eyesight had changed. Looking up and around, the sky had darkened for day's end and the treetops were blocking any light in the sky.
"Lumos Maxima!" Dumbledore cried.
An almost blinding flash emanated from his wand, to which he raised his arm to keep everyone scarce.
"This way," he instructed, gesturing forward. "We shall find a place to make camp and then send a message to the others."
Behind Dumbledore, Hagrid was leaning trees down to try and clear a path, while Tonks tried walking on her toes, as she wouldn't have wanted to slip into some unfamiliar ditch.
As for the others, staying hidden wouldn't have been easy as they came upon their first sign of population;
High perimeter fences separating greenery from dirt roads, yet they'd failed to spot some unusually large footprints in the mud.
Dumbledore raised his wand higher to get a better view of the fence, along with another 10,000 Volts sign.
"Perhaps we'd best mount again," He suggested. "It seems climbing may not be our best step."
Behind him, Sirius eyed the electric warning sign, clearly having a few ideas of his own.
"Do you want to give that a go?" He innocently whispered into Lupin's ear.
But Tonks remounted them, barely taking Lupin's dignity, disappointed that she wouldn't see his reactions, apart from a faint chuckle behind them.
Dumbledore and Hagrid took off again, angling themselves as to hit neither the trees nor the fences. The others followed that angle, noticing Dumbledore hanging his illuminated wand below.
"Need there be further signs of civilization, we shall impersonate Muggle helicopters," Dumbledore instructed. "Wands at the ready..."
One by one, the other party members cast the Lumos charm, waving their wands around to test the strength of it. One, however, was at Lumos Maxima as he held it in place, creating a more noticeable helicopter glow.
He was busy looking at the ground, but would have been glad of the attention it was gathering.
"Sirius Black!" Arabella gasped.
"Does blindness befall the wizard who casts his own shadow?" Bones scolded.
"Fancy that a blind man can't see two feet in front of him, Amy," Sirius griped. "Couldn't look below them, could he?"
Bones' and Figg's eyes followed Sirius's light up the road, noticing tire tracks pressed into the mud, unfamiliar to any witch or wizard apart from workers in the Ministry of Magic.
Both she and Figg were too occupied to notice Lupin and Tonks hovering directly behind them, shielding their eyes.
"Are you mad?!" Tonks cried. "Put that out! You reckon you can bring the sun out early?!"
"Sirius," Lupin began, over Tonks. "If I may vouch for Tonks, I can safely say..."
But he didn't need to, as Dumbledore and Hagrid already came flying into the path of the light.
"Never miss a beat, do you Dumbledore?" Sirius grumbled.
"I take that as a compliment, Sirius," Dumbledore replied. "If you will do the same for us, I expect you can identify the source of these."
Sirius, Madam Bones, and Miss Figg lowered themselves to get closer to the tracks, which Sirius ran his illuminated wand across, spotting a pattern of lines inverted towards a central point.
"I've left tracks like these on my motorbike," Sirius explained. "These must be what Muggles call 'Directional Tires'."
The other party members descended to have a view of their own, staring at Sirius expectantly.
"Go on, Black," Bones replied.
"Well," Sirius sighed, "Notice the lines in the tracks, and where they're pointing. Whatever left them must have gone this way."
He pointed his wand up the road towards a rightward curve, which the tracks hadn't stopped at.
"If there's a source, I say we go after them," Sirius insisted.
Similar overlapping mutters spilled from every mouth except Dumbledore's, Remus', and Tonks'.
"With all my experience in a Muggle neighborhood, I hate to disagree," Arabella replied.
"On the contrary, Figgy," Tonks interjected. "Never underestimate an auror's tactics, especially a new one's."
But there was no chance for argument as Sirius had already plunged ahead on his broom, nearly throwing Bones and Figg off, Lupin and Tonks tailing behind.
"Blimey, I've heard worse from a trio of firs' years!" Hagrid bellowed.
But Dumbledore had already sped up, as if he'd forgotten Hagrid was there. The party members sped down a rightward curve, their feet missing a wedge of stone planted into the ground.
They pulled into a rather tight leftward curve, which nearly caused possibly the Wizarding World's first skyway crash incident. But no one dropped their wands since the tire tracks continued.
It was wasn't long before they pulled up to a brightly painted Ford Explorer, numbered 6, standing on the edge of the road with its doors hanging open. An identical one behind was turned on its left, crushed, and missing its entire right.
Several torn metres of electric fence felled up ahead, one post completely open. On the other side was a pile of bamboo and palm leaves, lying not completely flat on the ground.
Sirius waved his lit wand over the Ford 6, finding this was where the tracks ended. But at the center of the road, he crisscrossed his wand, waving the others down.
As their feet touched the ground, Sirius stepped backwards to give off more light as the others spotted a massive, three-clawed footprint in the mud.
"Isn't she lovely, Hagrid?" Sirius questioned with sarcasm.
That line elicited a tear from the said gamekeeper, who dismounted and closed in on Sirius, who reacted as if he hadn't seen this from a former professor before.
"Think yer be in' funny, do yeh?" he choked, snorting up his tear. "Nothin' worth laughin' o'er that couldn't 'ave left that, is ther?"
Hagrid kneeled into the mud, his moleskin coat soaked, running his dustbin hand across the footprint in awe, even as the others backed away.
"This can't be what it looks like," Remus pondered.
"A Hungarian Horntail?" Hagrid interspersed. "Er sum variant..."
It was the only explanation they could muster, but there was no time to deliberate as a low, fast rumbling snaked in the direction which they came.
Unsticking himself, Hagrid turned around to spot a pair of white lights curving their way.
"Someone's comin!" he gasped.
"Everyone remount, quickly!" Dumbledore quickly commanded.
They pulled out their broomsticks and past the treetops, they backed over the electric fences, spotting the lights emitted by a gray, red-trimmed jeep pulling up to the wreck.
Climbing out of the jeep were two figures in yellow raincoats and shorts, waving flashlights just below the intensity of the basic Lumos charm.
"Albus!" Bones tensed.
"I recommend weaving about in the name of defense," Dumbledore suggested.
"Hold on," Tonks interrupted.
Back on the ground, Sattler and Muldoon's beams weren't going much higher than the trees, though the former looked close to tears.
"Where's the other car?!" She cried. "Alan!"
"Dr. Grant!" Muldoon shouted.
"ALAN!" Ellie repeated
"Grant!" Muldoon repeated.
They darted up and down the roadway, searching for any sign of Grant, Harry, or the Murphy children.
Finding the downed outhouse, they noticed some puddles of red buried by fallen palms. At the low end, Muldoon unearthed a mud-covered arm with a striped, red-soaked sleeve.
"I think this was Genarro," he gritted.
"I think this was too," Sattler added.
She pointed to a half bitten leg, clothed by torn khaki, before spotting a longer trail of red flowing past, dripping off the side of Ford 5.
Slipping off the Rover's seats, they found more puddles of red, soaking some squishy piles of pink, from which they excavated three items;
A used flare stick, a long, sausage like finger, and a shred of hideous mauve fabric soaked in red and brown.
"And these must be Potter's relatives," Muldoon continued.
The others may have been out of scope, but they still heard every word since all blanched except the red-faced man at the front of the second broomstick.
"Dumbledore," Sirius growled. "You know what this means..."
"I fear all of this may be more complicated for me too." Dumbledore replied gravely.
Their nerves were strengthened as a carnivorous roar erupted in the distance. They nearly fell off their broomsticks as the light came back their way.
On the ground, Sattler and Muldoon shifted their flashlights, knowing what the source was.
"I think it's ahead of us," Ellie gasped.
"It could be anywhere," Muldoon warned. "With the fences down, it can wander in and out of any paddock it likes."
A quieter moan snapped them out of it, which they traced to the fallen palms, where Malcolm lay covered. Removing them, they found his clothes splattered in red, his right ankle bent, and his belt tied around around his thigh.
"Ian..." Ellie pleaded.
"Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend," he moaned.
As he came to, another roar loomed above to which Sattler and Muldoon gently grabbed Malcolm's limbs and placed him in the back of the jeep.
But Sattler ran back across the muddy pathway, waving her flashlight, tears returning to her eyes.
"Alan!" she cried. "Lex! Tim! Harry!"
She didn't hear the overhead sniffling from a man who blew like blowing leaves off of trees.
"Not Harry, not Harry..." Hagrid pleaded.
"Now Hagrid," Dumbledore pleaded. "We must remember, however small the chance may be, the chance is always there."
The others shot Dumbledore another look, but he kept a close watch on Sattler as she bent over the edge of the road, where Ford 7 had fallen.
"The other car!" Ellie cried.
"So there," Dumbledore concluded.
They flew towards the edge as Muldoon followed Sattler down loose wires, into the paddock, where they spotted the completely wrecked Ford 7 laying on its top.
Sirius was ready to lunge, but Dumbledore held out his hand, gesturing back to the road.
"There are six of us, Sirius" he reminded him. "I suggest that three of us stay put and keep watch. We do not wish to be discovered, do we? Hagrid, you delivered young Harry, you may be the one to search him out."
"If anyone's going to search him out, it's his godfather," Sirius gritted. With those pigs out of the slaughterhouse, I've half a mind to claim you stole him from me."
"Very well," Dumbledore sighed. "But I suggest you bring Hagrid; Harry may want less of a dramatic entrance."
"Then I'll join them given he'll recognize me," Figg suggested.
They dismounted, thankful that the Jeep headlights were off. Figg wisely choose not to squeeze between Sirius and Hagrid, though she nearly slipped off the back as they took off.
But there came another roar as Dumbledore quickly squeezed himself in front of Madam Bones.
"I suggest a little hurrying up here, Albus!" Bones demanded, kicking off again before his foot muscles could shift.
Sirius, Hagrid and Miss Figg flew close enough to the tree where Ford 7 had landed. They kept their wands in the air as Sattler and Muldoon shined their flashlights into the wreck, finding only an empty car.
"Lex! Tim! Harry!" Ellie repeated. "Alan!"
"They're not here!" Muldoon concluded.
"Sirius!" Hagrid boomed.
Sirius tried to clasp his hand across Hagrid's mouth, but Figg shushed them both, gesturing at the two ground searchers.
At the sound of Hagrid's voice, Sattler and Muldoon's heads shot up, their lights waving more frantically until they finally spotted some human sized footprints in the ground.
"Thank God," Ellie gasped.
On closer inspection, the footprints were made by adult hiking boots and child's trainers, but they disappeared into the jungle foliage.
They flew back towards the road, where Bones was looking somewhat impatient, Lupin a touch more wary.
"Harry hasn't quite covered his tracks," Sirius replied. "We'll follow them and send you a message when we find him."
"Sirius, if anything happens..." Lupin began.
"Moony, need I remind you Figgy and I have an expert at our backs," Sirius advised.
This time, Hagrid shushed them as he wished not to spread rumors about him and dragons any further.
"As for us, perhaps the strangers will heed Hagrid's suggestion and find some sort of base," Dumbledore concluded.
"You mean... follow them?" Bones muttered.
"Precisely," Dumbledore confirmed. "But first, I believe a quick change of attire is in order."
A wand flick switched his purple moon and star robes into a Hawaiian shirt with said pattern, a straw fedora, cargo pants, and hiking boots, with his hair tied into a ponytail.
Hagrid's moleskin coat became a brown cargo shirt over a white t-shirt with matching pants, maroon boots, and another ponytail.
Bones' black ministry uniform was replaced with a gray denim shirt and shorts with pointed black boots and a black bucket hat.
Lupin received a brown fedora, a green cargo shirt and shorts with amber boots, admiring his and Tonks' look of khaki shorts, pointed black boots, and a matching slim-fitted vest over a crop-top t shirt, reading The Weird Sisters.
As for Sirius, he received an outfit to match Malcolm's, which to the elders, didn't look quite so flattering.
"I believe that does it," Dumbledore concluded. "Good luck and do try to blend in with your surroundings."
Sirius, Hagrid, and Miss Figg took off into the jungle before the water in the massive footprint began to ripple, and another distant boom awoke Malcolm completely.
"Fly, Albus," Bones gasped. "Fly!"
Tonks gestured to a hand climbing back over the crevice before kicking herself and Lupin back off, Dumbledore and Bones. Once Sattler and Muldoon were back on the road, Malcolm waved them into the Jeep.
"Come on!" He ordered. "We've gotta get out of here, now!"
As the car started, the three muggles missed the rustling the brush behind, but not another roar. The four wizards following from the air, however, seemed more perplexed at the sight of the Tyrannosaurus Rex prowling down the road.
"Oh Merlin!" Bones cried.
"A Horntail if we've ever seen one," Lupin gasped.
"Watch it!" Tonks cried.
She gestured to the three Muggles staring wide-eyed up at the Rex, which alerted Dumbledore to go higher. On the ground, the Jeep didn't seem to be going too fast, as quite a bit of swearing was heard.
"Shit!" Sattler repeatedly screeched.
"Faster..." Malcolm muttered. "Must go faster."
"Look out!" Sattler cried.
They pulled up to a fallen tree which they ducked under, giving the Wizards a chance to go lower, but the Rex smashed through anyway.
"Surely we can't go faster!" Bones cried.
"We must keep following them!" Dumbledore insisted.
By then, the Jeep should have picked up more speed, as the Rex seemed to be giving up and slipped back into the foliage.
"A pity your gamekeeper wasn't here to witness this, Dumbledore" Bones gritted.
They descended as the Muggles faced the main road again, turning an even wider curve than before.
Still, at the speed they were going it didn't feel that was, as they skidded up to the stockade gate, just barely taller than the Rex's head, but was also open a tiny crack.
Following such an adventure as that, the gate may have seemed much smaller, even after said gamekeeper had split from the group.
"A little too much mouth there, Bonesy?" Tonks teased.
"Nympha..." Bones started.
Before she could hiss any further, the crack between doors widened and the wizards backed away. As the Jeep passed through, they followed it to the other side, where the tri-cone roofed Visitor's Center awaited just a metre away.
Around the bend, the underground garage awaited down a man-made slope, which the Jeep drove into, causing the wizards to stop before it.
"There looks to be an entrance there," Remus noted. "Shouldn't we go back?"
"Wherever Minerva has taken others," Dumbledore reasoned. "Their intuition precedes them."