Disclaimer: I am not George Lucas or J.K. Rowling.

Ogden enters Grindelwald's quarters, entirely decorated with sculptures.

Ogden. Admiral?

Enter Grindelwald.

Grindelwald. Come in, Captain. You have something?

Ogden. Yes, sir. One of our probes in the outer Cornwall region has picked up Potter . . . and his companions.

Grindelwald. And his companions.

Grindelwald takes a data card from Ogden and downloads it, studying the contents within.

Interesting. Interesting indeed. What's that third broom, the one maneuvering to link with the Ford Anglia's dorsal hatch?

Ogden. We've tentatively identified it as the Felix Felicis, Administrator Dean Thomas's personal broom. One of the other probes copied a transmission stating that Thomas was leaving Cornwall on a purchasing trip.

Grindelwald. Do we know that Thomas did, in fact, mount the broom at Cornwall?

Ogden. Ah . . . no, sir, not for certain. We can try to get that information, though.

Grindelwald. Unnecessary. Our enemies are clearly past the stage of such childish tricks. Observe, Captain, their strategy. Captain Weasley and his wife and probably the half-giant Hagrid board their broom at Cornwall, while Thomas similarly boards his. They fly to the outer Cornwall region . . . and there they make a switch.

Ogden. [frowns] But we've . . .

Grindelwald. Shh.

Grindelwald and Ogden observe the video, watching as the Ford Anglia and the Felix Felicis move close together, then carefully maneuver away from each other.

Excellent. Four minutes, fifty-three seconds. They're in a hurry, of course, locked together so vulnerably. Which means . . . three people. Three people transferred, in one direction or the other, between those two broomships.

Ogden. [taken aback] Yes, sir. At any rate, we know that Hermione Granger Weasley remained aboard the Ford Anglia.

Grindelwald. Do we? Do we indeed?

Ogden. I believe we do, sir, yes. Right after the Felix Felicis and Potter's Firebolt left, we intercepted a transmission from her that definitely originated from the Ford Anglia.

Grindelwald. [shakes his head] A recording . . . no. They're cleverer than that. A voiceprint-doctored droid, then . . . probably Potter's prefect droid. Hermione Granger Weasley, you see, was one of the two people who left with the Felix Felicis.

Ogden. I don't understand.

Grindelwald. Consider the possibilities. Three people start out aboard the Ford Anglia, one aboard the Felix Felicis. Three people then transfer. But neither Weasley nor Thomas is the type to turn his broomship over to the dubious command of a computer or droid. So each broomship must end up with at least one person aboard. You follow so far?

Ogden. Yes, sir. That doesn't tell us who is where, though.

Grindelwald. Patience, Captain. Patience. As you say, the question now is that of the final makeup of the crews. Fortunately, once we know there were three transfers, there are only two possible combinations. Either Weasley and Granger Weasley are together aboard the Felix Felicis or else Granger Weasley and the half-giant are there.

Ogden. Unless one of the transfers was a droid.

Grindelwald. Unlikely. Historically, Weasley has never liked droids, nor allowed them to travel aboard his car except under highly unusual circumstances. Potter's droid and its messenger counterpart appear to be the sole exceptions. And thanks to your transmission data, we already know that that droid has remained on the Ford Anglia.

Ogden. Yes, sir. Shall I put out an alert on the Felix Felicis, then?

Grindelwald. That won't be necessary. I know exactly where Hermione Granger Weasley is going.

Ogden. You're not serious, sir.

Grindelwald. Perfectly serious, Captain. Consider: Weasley and Granger Weasley have nothing to gain by simply transferring together to the Felix Felicis. The Ford Anglia is faster and far better defended. This exercise only makes sense if Granger Weasley and the half-giant are together. [smiles] And given that, there is only one logical place for them to go.

Ogden. Minsk?

Grindelwald. Minsk. They know they can't evade our vampires forever, and so they've decided to surround her with half-giants . . . for all the good it will do them.

Ogden. It may not be as easy as it sounds, Admiral. Minsk's ecology can best be described as a layered deathtrap. And the half-giants themselves are extremely capable fighters.

Grindelwald. So are the vampires. Now . . . what of Potter?

Ogden. His vector away from Cornwall was consistent with a course toward Upper Flagley. Of course, he could easily have altered it once he was out of range of our probes.

Grindelwald. [smiles] He's going there. Our Auror Master has said so, hasn't he? We'll leave for Upper Flagley immediately. How much lead time will we have?

Ogden. A minimum of four days, assuming that Potter's Firebolt hasn't been overly modified. More than that, depending on how many stopovers he has to make on the way.

Grindelwald. He'll make no stopovers. Aurors use a hibernation state for trips of such length. For our purposes, though, four days will be quite adequate.

Grindelwald flips a switch and the images of the sculptures vanish.

We'll need two more broomships. An Anti-Disapparition Jinx to bring Potter out of Apparition where we want him, and some kind of freighter. An expendable one, preferably.

Ogden. Expendable, sir?

Grindelwald. Expendable, Captain. We're going to set up the attack as a pure accident, an opportunity that will seem to have arisen while we were investigating a suspicious freighter for Dumbledore's Army munitions. That way, you see, we retain the option of turning him over to Crouch if we choose to do so, without even Potter's realizing he was actually ambushed.

Ogden. Understood, sir. With your permission, I'll get Nurmengard underway.

Ogden pauses, momentarily mesmerized by one of Grindelwald's sculptures, which he notices has not faded away with the others.

Grindelwald notices this interest.

Grindelwald. Yes. That one is indeed real.

Ogden. It's . . . very interesting.

Grindelwald. [wistful] Isn't it? It was my one failure, out in the Black Forest. The one time when understanding a race's art gave me no insight at all into its psyche. At least not at the time. Now, I believe I'm finally beginning to understand them.

Ogden. I'm sure that will prove useful in the future.

Grindelwald. [in the same wistful tone] I doubt it. I wound up destroying their region.

Ogden. [swallows] Yes, sir.

Exit Ogden.