"Across the Pond"
Chapter Seven
After packing up and saying his goodbyes, Uriel mounted his broom and took off. It was a long way from the Highlands of Scotland to Indiana. He would be following the same path he took to get to Hogwarts: from Scotland, he would fly to Iceland (stopping for the night in Norbynynst, the country's single magic-only community), and from there flying to Tingmiarmiut, Greenland, Newfoundland, New York, and then to Indianapolis.
It was a fairly easy trip (except that he was mugged in Norbynynst, but that was OK since he wasn't carrying anything of great value in his wallet or any of his pockets—all of which were pillaged and plundered). He was back in Indy within five days.
As soon as he landed at St. Malefecent's, Uriel proceeded directly to Professor Mercury's office, not even bothering to shed his traveling cloak or doff his flannel-insulated fedora. When he walked into the office, having knocked only once, he found Mercury waiting for him.
"I suppose you're wondering why I called you back so early," he said, pouring hot water from his copper kettle into two cups.
"Of course!" Uriel barked, rather rudely. He regretted it immediately, but Prof. Mercury didn't seem to notice or care.
"You take milk and two lumps, correct?" asked the old man. "Anyway, I called you here because there are odd and disturbing occurrences here in the school of late, ranging from bloody handprints in a dormitory to cryptic, threatening messages scrawled in the dining hall tables.
"At first, I was perplexed. The students and staff report feelings of a malevolent force, and with all of the evil tidings of recent months, I suspected Voldemort. He never invaded the U.S., of course, but you'd best believe he had supporters here, and he had plans. Of course, you have "purebloods" like the Andersons, but they were never very vocal in their support, so I didn't suspect them. Then, one day a few weeks ago, I came into my office, and found it to be utterly ransacked. The gauntlet of John Billingsley was missing."
Uriel gasped. John Billingsley was the first wizard in America, having come over with the Jamestown settlers. His steel gauntlet contained immense magical powers, and was very dangerous in the wrong hands.
"Suddenly," continued Mercury, "it all came to me: a book had been taken from the library—a book on making magic-strengthening items, stolen from the Restricted Section. I knew that none of my staff would do such a thing. I also knew that the only student with a motive was also the only pureblood in the school."
"Ptolemy Anderson," whispered Uriel. It was true that Ptolemy was the only pureblood student at St. Malefecent's—most of the rich families sent their kids to Durmstrang, and the only reason the Andersons didn't was that they wanted to prove their innocence in the Voldemort controversy with as much schmoozing as possible.
"That's right," said the professor. "The poor foolish boy broke into my office—obviously with the aid of a more powerful wizard—and stole the gauntlet, though I'm not sure why."
"His father," explained Uriel, "obviously supports Voldemort. He's taken, I'd wager, the gauntlet and the book in order to make himself strong…strong enough to start up a corps of American Death Eaters."
"Yes, that makes perfect sense," said Professor Mercury. "The night after I sent my letter to you, the other teachers and I went to apprehend Anderson, only to find that he had fled, probably to his family's estate in northern California."
"Then let us go there at once," said Uriel.