Disclaimer: I am not Timothy Zahn or J.K. Rowling.
Enter Grindelwald and Ogden, on Nurmengard.
Grindelwald. Have you found them, Captain?
Ogden. I'm afraid not, sir. We'd hoped that with the arrival of local nightfall we'd be able to get some results from the infrared sensors. But they don't seem able to penetrate the tree canopy, either.
Grindelwald. [nods] What about that pulse transmission we picked up just after sundown?
Ogden. We were able to confirm that it originated from the approximate location of the crash site. But it was too brief for a precise location check. The encrypt on it is a very strange one. Decrypt thinks it might be a type of counterpart coding. They're still working on it.
Grindelwald. They've tried all the known Army encrypts, I presume.
Ogden. Yes, sir, as per your orders.
Grindelwald. [nods] It looks like we're at something of a stalemate, then, Captain . . . at least as long as they're in the forest. Have you calculated their likely emergence points?
Ogden. There's really only one practical choice. A town called Dufftown, on the edge of the forest and almost directly along their path. It's the only population center anywhere for more than a hundred kilometers. With only the one survival pack between them, they almost have to come out there.
Grindelwald. Excellent. I want you to detail three squads of Hit Wizards to set up an observation post there. They're to assemble and depart ship immediately.
Ogden. Hit Wizards, sir?
Grindelwald. Hit Wizards. Better add half a biker scout unit, too, and three light assault vehicles.
Ogden. [cautious] Yes, sir.
Grindelwald. Dumbledore lied to us, you see. Whatever that little drama was this afternoon, it was not the common pursuit of a common thief. I'd like to know what, in fact, it was.
Ogden. I . . . don't think I follow, sir.
Grindelwald. It's very simple, Captain. The pilot of the chase vehicle never reported in during the pursuit, nor did anyone from Dumbledore's base communicate with him. We know that. We'd have intercepted any such transmissions. No progress reports, no assistance requests. Nothing but complete radio silence. Speculation, Captain?
Ogden. Whatever it was, it was something they didn't want our knowing about. Beyond that . . . I don't know, sir. There could be any number of things they wouldn't want outsiders to know about. They are smugglers, after all.
Grindelwald. Agreed. But now consider the additional fact that Dumbledore refused our invitation to join in the search for Potter . . . and the fact that this afternoon he implied the search was over. [raises an eyebrow] What does that suggest to you, Captain?
Ogden. You mean . . . that was Potter in that Cleansweep?
Grindelwald. An interesting speculation, isn't it? Unlikely, I'll admit. But likely enough to be worth following up on.
Ogden. Yes, sir. Though if we stay here more than another day or two, we may have to move back the Nimbus attack.
Grindelwald. We're not moving Nimbus. Our entire victory campaign against the Army begins there. And I'll not have so complex and far-reaching a schedule altered. Not for Potter, not for anyone else.
Grindelwald glances at the statues beside him.
Nimbus art clearly indicates a biannual cyclic pattern, and I want to hit them at their most sluggish point. We'll leave for our rendezvous with the Slytherin and the invisibility cloak test as soon as the troops and vehicles have been dropped. Three squads of Hit Wizards should be adequate to handle Potter, if he is indeed here.
Grindelwald returns his gaze to Ogden.
And to handle Dumbledore, if he turns out to be a traitor.
Exit all.
