Chapter 28: The Cloaked Figures

The alley began to curve. Ellie inched forward, carefully peering at what was ahead. Several shops lined the walkway, all of them looking very dingy and unkempt. The path was virtually deserted except for two cloaked figures. Ellie pulled back quickly, hoping she hadn't been noticed. She remained perfectly still, straining her ears for the sound of approaching footsteps, but everything was silent. Ellie cautiously glanced around the corner again. The two figures were still there, standing in front of one of the shops, as if they were waiting for something. Or maybe they were guarding something, Ellie thought to herself. Maybe her mother was being held captive in there. Ellie heart leapt at the thought.

"But that would be too obvious." The voice in Ellie head stated. "The Aurors would surely been able to find her in such an accessible place."

The figures were standing with their backs to the door, the baggy hoods covering their faces. Just as Ellie decided it was best to return to Diagon Alley, four more hooded figures came from the opposite end of the alley, approaching the two other cloaked figures.

Ellie pressed her back to the stone wall, paying that she wouldn't be discovered.

"You're late." A voice said lowly.

"It couldn't be helped. There are Aurors every where." Another voice replied.

"We shouldn't even be meeting here." A nervous voice added.

"Would you go against the Dark Lord's wishes?" The first voice asked.

"No, it's just that it's not safe."

"Are you sure it's going to work this time?" Some one asked with an impatient tone.

"There is no way of knowing until it's done."

"Well, I have a good feeling about these muggles; much more feisty than the last lot."

Ellie felt her insides go numb at mention of muggles. These people knew where her mother was.

"Lets get going before were spotted."

Ellie heard the sound of a door opening, and she cautiously looked around the corner. One by one, the cloaked figures entered the shop they had been standing in front of. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Ellie waited for the last person to enter the store, then ran through the door just as it was closing. The cloaked figures continued towards the back of the store while Ellie ducked behind a large table covered with strange artifacts. She was able to keep an eye on the figures between a jar full of bat wings and a candle labeled "poison". However, Ellie wasn't able to see what was happening due to a large gothic armor obstructing half of her view. After a few seconds Ellie could hear each person say "the cottage", followed by a swooshing noise and a dull green light. Soon they were all gone, and Ellie was left alone in the store.

After a few seconds, Ellie slowly emerged from her hiding spot. She cautiously walked to the back of the shop. Sure enough, there was a fireplace and not a soul around. Ellie notice a black leather sack hanging on a nail on the fireplace mantel. Just as she expected, the bag was half-full of floo powder. Ellie reached in and grabbed a small hand full. She silently stared at the fine, glittering powder in her cupped hand.

"What do you think you're doing?!?!" The voice in the back of her mind shouted.

Ellie had told herself numerous times that she was only going to the magic world to get information about her mother, not actually go looking for her. She wanted to keep herself out of trouble, and now she was already in way over her head. Ellie placed the handful of powder back into the leather sac, and headed for the door. She turned the knob, but it didn't budge. After several moments of frantically looking for a way to unlock the door, Ellie came to the realization that it had been locked by magic. Once again, she was trapped.

Ellie glanced around the store in a panic. She needed to find a way out. Without thinking, she grabbed an iron spiked helmet that was sitting on a near by table, and threw it at the storefront window. Ellie braced herself for the loud noise of shattering glass, but all she heard was the clanging of the helmet hitting the concrete floor. Of course, there was an unbreakable charm placed on the windows. Ellie let out a loud groan in frustration.

"Is there no way to get out of this cursed shop?!?" She yelled to herself.

Realizing that shouting wasn't going to accomplish anything, Ellie began to take some slow, deep breaths to calm herself down. Now thinking with a clear mind, Ellie realized that she had two options. She could either wait until the cloaked figures returned (but who knows how long that would be?), or she could go through the fireplace. Ellie stared towards the back of the store at the fireplace, as if expecting an answer to her problems to emerge. Suddenly, Ellie was struck with the most obvious solution. Hogwarts! She could use the floo powder to take her to Hogsmeade, then find Harry and tell him everything she knew. Just the idea of seeing Harry again gave Ellie the confidence to proceed with this plan. She dipped her hand in the bag full of powder, and threw a fist full into the fireplace. Without hesitation, Ellie stepped in amongst the green flames and said, in a clear voice, "Hogsmeade!".

Nothing happened. Ellie glanced down, and saw that the flames had gone out. She took another hand full of powder, a bit bigger than the last, and threw it into the fireplace. Once again the flames shot up a bright green, and once again Ellie stepped in and said Hogsmeade. But as soon as the word came out of her mouth, the flames would extinguish themselves. Ellie looked at the fireplace in bafflement.

"Why isn't this working?" She asked out loud.

The only plausible answer that came to Ellie's mind was that the cloaked people might have place a spell on the fireplace, sealing it off, preventing anyone from following. However, there was only one way to find out for sure.

Ellie threw in another fist full of floo powder and said loudly "the cottage!".