An unknown location. September 30, 1986

The wizard stood next to a large cork bulletin board on which a broad, ivory sheet of enchanted parchment was nailed. The bulletin board was mounted about 3 inches away from highly polished rock walls by short, stout pegs nailed to the back of it. It would not do to let the precious, enchanted parchment to get too close to the rock walls which were so hot that they would burn you in a few moments if you touched them. The wizard himself had gone through so many physical changes in the past several years that he no longer really noticed slight pain or injuries, but he took steps to avoid unnecessary damage to himself out of habit and the memory of the more human being he once had been.

To this end, wooden baffles and gratings were placed in front of not only the rock walls, but also the floor as well. Neither any valuable furniture, nor any of the wizards expensive magical equipment or grimoires, his other numerous possesions, or his own flesh were in danger of accidentally touching the overly hot walls. He could of course stick a finger through one of the holes in the baffles if he wished, but was unlikely to do that. He was a desperate man, not a stupid one, and despite his relative immunity to physical injury, he had no desire to harm himself. At least not in that particular, pointless fashion.

On a large table in front of the bulletin board was a long frame, containing 2000 tiny amulets, no larger than muggle dimes, mounted in 20 neat rows of 100 each. Each amulet corresponded to one of the chocolate frog cards which he had so cleverly had the Hogwarts students smuggle into their own school for him. The rows of amulets were surrounded by carefully arranged crystals, and runes of a peculiar foreign type. Some of the runes were quite primitive looking, actually resembling animals. The wizard was not from England, but another country, and the magic he had learned partook both of that more modern than that generally in use in England, and that far more primitive. His people were quite pragmatic, to a great extent resembling Slytherins more than any other house of Hogwarts, and would use any sort of magic that would accomplish their purpose, without any sort of discrimination for mere emotional or social reasons.

Raising his wand, the wizard began to chant a long, complex incantation. The crystals surrounding his amulets began to glow and vibrate so violently that a more timid magician would have been afraid they were about to explode. The wizard paid them no mind, however. He was highly skilled in Arithmancy, among other things, and knew the precise amount of magical power these crystals could take. Although the crystals were near the limits of what they could tolerate, they would not actually explode in the amount of time he needed to finish his spell.

Continuing to chant and move his wand in precise patterns, he nodded slightly as the runes began to glow and writhe. The ones that looked like primitive drawings of animals almost seemed to be imbued with totem spirits, and actually crawled around the board, exploring the amulets with paws and tongue as if they had come alive.

Now he drew his wand swiftly and decisively as a sword across the neat rows of amulets, being sure to touch every single one. The enchantments he had previously placed on the amulets discharged into his wand, making it quiver in his hand so violently that if his strength had not been far greater than any normal human being's, it would have torn itself from his grasp. As it was, he had to use almost all the effort he was capable of to retain control of it.

Grinning ferally at the power he was invoking, the wizard finished drawing his wand across the lowermost row of amulets, and placed the tip in the center of a large ornate rune, one resembling a multi-colored serpent surrounding the sun, as if it were either guarding it, or about to devour it. Then he did something very odd. Holding the violently shaking wand in the rune with his right hand, he reached down to his belt with his left hand, and drew a second wand, identical to the first, out of the sheath. He placed the tip of the second wand on the blank peice of parchment on the cork board in front of him, and with a great effort, forced a final incantation from his lips, which were coated with an oddly colored froth that was darker than spit or sweat, but lighter than any normal sort of blood.

At once, the magical energy stored in his first wand began to channel itself through his body, causing him to convulse as if in the throes of a lethal electric current. A lesser wizard, or one who had not done the terrible things to himself that this one had would not have been able to withstand it, and would have been hurled across the room, unconscious or worse. As it was, the wizard simply tightened his lips, giving his grin an ever more carnivorous appearance, and held firmly to both wands as the enchantment of the parchment was carried out. Spidery lines of black ink emerged from the tip of the wand pressed on the parchement. They throbbed slightly, as if they were the veins of a living being. As they spread, parts of them faded and other parts arranged themselves, until they formed a map. In the center of the map was Hogwarts, of course. The enchantment he had cast used the chocolate frog cards to map the people and the surroundings in their immediate area. There were enough chocolate frog cards in Hogwarts itself that his map of the castle itself was complete. There was a less detailed area surrounding it, of the Hogwarts grounds and outer edge of the Forbidden Forest, which had been mapped by cards dropped by students on the grounds. Farther out yet were a few maps of other areas, mainly houses and trash heaps in London, where the cards that had been left over after the train ride had ended up, having been either thrown away, or stolen by the employees of Platform 9 3/4.

At last the mapping was complete, and the wizard nearly fell over with relief. He let his wands fall from his hands and propped himself against the table for several minutes, panting. Then he picked up his wands, sheathed one of them and turned with the other to look at the map he had made. It resembled the Marauder's Map, showing not only the area it was in, but the people there as well. The wizard was not at all interested in the houses or names of dishonest railroad employees, so he cast a brief charm at the map, causing the sketchily drawn areas of London to shrink to small dots, and arrange themselves along the sides of the map. The map of Hogwarts and the surrounding grounds expanded to fill the newly emptly space. The wizard smiled at it, and then noticed that a new area had suddenly appeared, beneath it. It appeared to be the inside of a small shop of some kind. He shrugged. No doubt someone with one of his cards had just apparated or taken the floo there, causing it to appear on his map. He was not interested in their shopping excursion, and waved his wand at the new area, causing it to shrink and join the other irrelevent areas along the edge of the map.

No, there was only one place he was interested in. Or rather one person, but at this time of the year, he was to be found almost exclusively in the carefully mapped Hogwarts Castle. The wizards looked at the numerous names and footprints wandering around on the map. Most of them were unfamiliar to them. A few of the last names he had heard of, but they were his enemies, and were to either be ignored like the rest, or dealt with harshly if they attempted to interfere with him.

Finally, he found the name he was looking for, in a small classroom on the lowest floor of Hogwarts. The footprints of the one he sought moved back and forth slightly, as if performing a task while standing in front of a table. The wizard reached out one long finger and caressed the name with an almost tender gesture, as gently as he would the breast of a treasured lover. A greedy, almost hungry expression formed on his face as he pronounced the name of the one whom he had come all this way to find.

"Harry Potter."