Sold, Chapter 15, Traces of Residue
By Marmalade Fever
A.N.: I think I finally figured out where this is headed! Yay! Oh, and I think it will be very clear in this chapter that I'm not following HBP guidelines. Have you all finished reading? I'm terrified that I'm going to spoil something.
Minerva McGonagall stood from her hunched position. Below her, on a table, were several well-preserved samples of grass, air, and earth. She had been working, night and day, alongside Professors Dumbledore and Snape, trying to identify the spell cast over a week before. She wiped the sweat off of her brow with a handkerchief and smiled genuinely. She had found it. On the grass were trace amounts of magical residue. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Severus quickly scraped the residue into a boiling cauldron. In just a moment, the spell would be revealed and they would be able to discern how to bring the children back, or at least send them instructions. Yes, everything was going better than planned.
…
Harry and Penelope Potter and Draco and Hermione Malfoy sat together in the back room of Flourish and Blotts. Hermione had kept her job, although she and her husband had more than enough money to thrive on.
"Did Dumbledore send you the good news?" Harry asked, though he still looked pained. He had been leafing half-heartedly through a novel on Herbology by Antoine and Neville Longbottom.
"Just this morning," Hermione said, nodding. Draco's arm was draped over her shoulder and he gave her a little squeeze. "So it was a trans-dimensional summoning charm. I've read about them, of course, but up until now they've been little more than theory. Athena the Ashen claimed to have used one once, but no one believed her. All she had to show was an untied shoe. She said that it came from a dimension in which she had decided to wear flip-flops that morning instead."
"I suppose she did have an extra left shoe," Draco added. "And I think the tied one had a piece of bubblegum on the bottom that the other didn't."
"Hermione, I don't quite understand what Dumbledore means in this letter," Harry said, pulling a piece of well-worn parchment from his pocket. "He says that he's figured out how to get them back, but it'll be difficult to do because they've changed locations, or something?"
Hermione nodded, grimly. "Say that the second Athena, who had worn the flip-flops, had wanted to get her shoe back. She would be able to figure out where the shoe had been sent, but she couldn't track where the shoe had moved to afterward."
"And there's no chance they could have stayed in the same place?" Harry asked.
"Well, so long as all of their limbs are in working order, I think they would have moved at least a little. They would need to be in a fifteen foot radius to get pulled back, and even then everything else in that circle would come back too."
"I see," Harry said, sighing. "And what's this other thing, about sending them instructions to go back to their original destination?"
"It's simple, Potter," Draco answered. "Dumbledore's going to write down explicit instructions, place a charm on it so that the note goes directly to them, and then on a specified date and time, he'll try to get them back. If they get the note and it won't work for them, he's also including instructions on sending a reply letter, instead. They might be able to give him new coordinates."
"This all seems so complicated," Penelope said, rubbing her temples. "There isn't an easier way?"
"If there's an easier way, it's more dangerous. We have to put our faith in Dumbledore to know what's best," Harry told her, holding her hand in his.
"I just hope that no one intercepts the message. Who knows how far they could have moved…" Hermione said, staring at her knuckles.
"What worries me is who exactly cast the spell in the first place. Be he friend or foe?" Draco asked. He had gone paler over the last week and a half than normal.
"I don't want to think about it," Harry said, tossing the herbology book aside. "I wonder if there's a way to find out exactly how that dimension differs from our own. I want to know what our kids are up against."
"Well, the original caster is the only one who would be able to figure that out. He was able to figure out what different dimension he wanted to draw them from, by judging what difference he wanted between them. We don't know what the difference is, we just know how to get to that other dimension," Hermione said, cradling her head in her hands.
"I wonder if it would be a good idea to send a team to retrieve them. Maybe we could…?" Harry asked, but stopped when he saw the look on Hermione's face.
"Harry, do you have any idea how dangerous that could be? We don't know what we might be facing. And don't forget that one of the children is yours. Who knows, this might be a big plot to get to you." Hermione's face froze and she snapped her fingers. "That's it! I bet you that whoever it was just wanted Lily and not Evander! Don't you see, they're trying to get to you, Harry!"
Harry's face screwed up in confusion. "I think we're missing too many of the details to jump to conclusions. If they had wanted me, why not just send one of those balls of lightning after me in the first place?"
"Oh, I don't know!" Hermione wailed, bursting into tears.
"Shh," Draco said, trying his best to console her. "Go home, Potter, you've caused enough damage. We'll figure this all out later." Harry gave him an "I didn't do anything" look, but left with Penelope, nonetheless. "It'll be all right. It'll be all right. I've got you. Dumbledore will get Evander and Lily back. Don't worry."
…
Professor Dumbledore stretched his arms in front of him. He had just written a very detailed letter for the two children, charmed not to let anyone besides them or a blood relative open it. He took up his wand, stared steadily at the letter, and muttered a spell. Before his eyes, he saw a large ball of lightning form around the letter, but then something odd happened. The letter split, as if undergoing mitosis, creating two twin letters before disappearing in a burst of light.
Back at the other dimension, two letters began to zoom toward the smaller of the Malfoy Manors. One came from the woods to the north, another came through a window in Malfoy Manor.
A.N.: Hmm, well that was certainly a pleasant break from the dreary world of Sold! Tell me what you think. Thank you all!