Disclaimer: I am not Timothy Zahn or J.K. Rowling.
Enter Grindelwald and Ogden, on Nurmengard.
Grindelwald and Ogden test the Cloak of Invisibility they recovered from Horcrux on a battered broomship.
Grindelwald. It looks good, Captain. Exactly the way it should. You may proceed with the test when ready.
Ogden. It'll be a few more minutes yet, sir. The technicians are still having some problems getting the invisibility cloak tuned.
Grindelwald. [nods] There's time. What word from the Isle of Drear?
Ogden. The last regular report came in two hours ago. Still negative.
Grindelwald. [nods] And the latest count from Nimbus?
Ogden. Er . . .
Ogden searches for the appropriate file.
A hundred twelve transient broomships in all. Sixty-five being used as cargo carriers, the others on escort duty.
Grindelwald. Sixty-five. Excellent. It means we get to pick and choose.
Ogden. [shifts uncomfortably] Yes, sir.
Grindelwald. You have a concern, Captain?
Ogden glances at the broomship.
Ogden. I don't like sending them into enemy territory without any communications.
Grindelwald. We don't have much choice in the matter. That's how an invisibility cloak works: nothing gets out, nothing gets in . . . assuming, of course, that it works at all.
Ogden. Yes, sir. But . . .
Grindelwald. But what, Captain?
Ogden. It seems to me, Admiral, that this is the sort of operation we ought to use Crouch on.
Grindelwald. Crouch?
Ogden. Yes, sir. He could give us communications with . . .
Grindelwald. We don't need communications, Captain. Careful timing will be adequate for our purposes.
Ogden. I disagree, Admiral. Under normal circumstances, yes, careful timing would get them into position. But there's no way to anticipate how long it will take to get clearance from Nimbus Control.
Grindelwald. On the contrary. I've studied the Nimbus very carefully. I can anticipate exactly how long it will take them to clear the broom.
Ogden. If the controllers were all Nimbus, perhaps. But with the Army funneling so much of their own material through the Nimbus region, they're bound to have some of their own people in Control, as well.
Grindelwald. It's of no consequence. The Nimbus will be in charge. Their timing will determine events.
Ogden. [sighs] Yes, sir.
Grindelwald. It's not a question of bravado, Captain, or of proving that the Ministry fleet can function without him. The simple fact of the matter is that we can't afford to use Crouch too much or too often.
Ogden. [angry] Because we'll start depending on him, as if we were all implanted into a combat computer.
Grindelwald. [smiles] That still bothers you, doesn't it? No matter. That's part of it, but only a very small part. What concerns me more is that we don't give Mr. Crouch too much of a taste for this kind of power.
Ogden. [frowns] He said he doesn't want power.
Grindelwald. [cold] Then he lies. All men want power. And the more they have, the more they want.
Ogden. But if he's a threat to us . . .
Grindelwald. Why not dispose of him? It's very simple. Because we'll soon have the ability to fill his taste for power to the fullest. And once we've done so, he'll be no more of a threat than any other tool.
Ogden. Hermione Granger Weasley and her twins?
Grindelwald. Exactly. Once Crouch has them in his hand, these little excursions with the fleet will be no more to him than distracting interludes that take him away from his real work.
Ogden. That assumes, of course, that the vampires are ever able to connect with her.
Grindelwald. They will. She and her guardians will eventually run out of tricks . . . certainly long before we run out of vampires.
Ogden glances back at the screen.
Ogden. They're ready, sir.
Grindelwald. At your convenience, Captain.
Ogden. [into the transceiver] Invisibility cloak, activate.
The technicians do as Ogden orders.
Grindelwald watches the broomship with satisfaction.
Grindelwald. Excellent, Captain. Precisely what I wanted. I congratulate you and your technicians.
Ogden. Thank you, sir. Then I take it the light is green?
Grindelwald. The light is green, Captain. Alert the task force. Prepare to move to the rendezvous point. The Nimbus broom company is ours.
Exit all.
