Disclaimer: I am not George Lucas or J.K. Rowling.
Aboard Nurmengard, Grindelwald and Ogden stand on the bridge and watch Harry's Firebolt escape into Apparition.
Grindelwald. Come with me, Captain.
Ogden. Yes, sir.
Grindelwald and Ogden descend into the crew pit, where they discover Lucian Bole, the young man who runs the tractor beam.
Grindelwald. Your name.
Bole. Lucian Bole, sir.
Grindelwald. You were in charge of the tractor beam during our engagement with the Firebolt.
Bole. Yes, sir. But what happened wasn't my fault.
Grindelwald. [raises an eyebrow] Explain.
Bole initially moves to gesture toward Avery, his superior officer, but immediately changes his mind.
Bole. The target did something with his acceleration compensator that killed his velocity vector . . .
Grindelwald. I'm aware of the facts. I'm waiting to hear why his escape wasn't your fault.
Bole. I was never properly trained for such an occurrence, sir. The computer lost the lock, but seemed to pick it up again right away. There was no way for me to know it had really picked up something else until . . .
Grindelwald. Until the proton torpedoes detonated against the projector?
Bole. Yes, sir.
Grindelwald studies Bole for a moment.
Grindelwald. Who is your officer?
Bole. Ensign Avery, sir.
Grindelwald turns toward Avery, standing to the side.
Grindelwald. You are in charge of this man?
Avery. Yes, sir.
Grindelwald. Was his training also your responsibility?
Avery. Yes, sir.
Grindelwald. Did you, during that training, run through any scenarios similar to what just happened?
Avery. I . . . don't remember, sir. The standard training package does include scenarios concerning loss of lock and subsequent reestablishment confirmation.
Grindelwald briefly glances at Bole.
Grindelwald. Did you recruit him as well, Ensign?
Avery. No, sir. He was a conscript.
Grindelwald. Does that make him less worthy of your training time than a normal enlistee?
Avery. No, sir. I've always tried to treat my subordinates equally.
Grindelwald. I see.
Grindelwald frowns, then glances over Ogden's shoulder.
Sanguini.
Enter Sanguini.
[to Avery] Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake, Ensign?
Avery. No, sir.
Grindelwald. Anyone can make an error, Ensign. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.
Grindelwald indicates Bole; both for his ineptitude and for cowardly trying to pin the blame on Avery, Bole is killed by Sanguini.
Enter the Hit Wizards.
Dispose of it.
The Hit Wizards carry Bole's body away.
The error, Ensign, has now been corrected. You may begin training a replacement. [to Ogden] I want a full technical/tactical readout on the last few seconds of that encounter, Captain. I'm particularly interested in his Apparition vector.
Derrick. I have it all here, sir.
Derrick approaches Grindelwald and hands him a datacard.
Grindelwald. Thank you. [to Ogden] We'll have him, Captain. Very soon now, we'll have him.
Ogden. Yes, sir. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
Grindelwald. [raises an eyebrow] You misunderstand me. I mean that literally. He's out there right now, not very far away. And . . . he's helpless.
Ogden. [frowns] I don't understand, sir.
Grindelwald. That maneuver he used has an interesting side effect I suspect he didn't know about. Backfiring an acceleration compensator like that does severe damage to the adjoining hyperdrive. A light year away, no farther, and it will fail completely. All we have to do is make a search along that vector or persuade others to do our searching for us, and he'll be ours. You follow?
Ogden. Yes, sir. Shall I contact the rest of the fleet?
Grindelwald. [shakes his head] Preparing for the Nimbus attack is the fleet's top priority at the moment. No, I think we'll subcontract this one out. I want you to send messages to all the major smuggling chiefs whose groups operate in this area: Hodrod, Dumbledore, Pinkstone, any others we have on file. Use their private frequencies and encrypt codes . . . a little reminder of how much we know about each of them should help ensure their cooperation. Give them Potter's Apparition vector and offer a bounty of thirty thousand for his capture.
Ogden. Yes, sir. [hesitates] Sir, if you knew that Potter's escape was only temporary . . . ?
Grindelwald. The Ministry is at war, Captain. We cannot afford the luxury of men whose minds are so limited they cannot adapt to unexpected situations.
Grindelwald briefly glances at Sanguini.
Carry out your orders, Captain. Potter will be ours . . . alive or otherwise.
Exit all.
