Chapter 15: Impact, part 1
Two adults find two huge snakes and one young man.
Thunder boomed through the sky. Lighting forked through the air, throwing glimpses of the nighttime landscape. It was a modest thunderstorm. The rain slicked enough dirt for a mud slide in places, causing rain to run in small rivers over the stones between trees. A magically amplified voice called out amongst a gale, nearly lost to nature's howl.
"C'mon man! Fall back! We've had no luck all ruddy day and now this! We'll never find anything..."
Amos Diggory rolled his eyes and cast Sonorous, wand out at his own throat, and hollered back.
"Listen t' you, Cumberfink! Y'd find more bravery at the bottom of a barrel of newts! It's just water and wind, man! We're out here 'till we find wot we're after and that's that! Now buck up and shift yourself!"
Through the rain and wind came a muttering figure clutching his soaked cloak around him. Amos clapped him heartily on the back, nearly sending the man sprawling forward into a nearby mud puddle. "There you are! Nearly lost you in this drizzle, Cumberfink!" Cumberfink was busily muttering under his breath about how much he'd like to be at home with a warm mug of Butterbeer or a pint of something stronger to warm him. Amos ignored his mutterings and re-cast Lumos. The tip of his wand glowed and cast a soft white light out around them though most of it was lost to the rain.
"Now let's see about that trail. Wot were the specs, again?"
Cumberfink unfolded a scrap of parchment and read it aloud in the dim glow from Amos' wand.
"Two days, four different sources, no sightings. It's blotched here, coz' of the rain, but I remember: Maybe three snakes and one set of muggle tracks."
He looked up at his partner. Both men looked grim.
"From the sounds of it we'll find a pile of bones," Cumberfink guessed. "Three snakes and a set of tracks? That's a hunting party after a lost muggle, that's wot that is. They'll have eaten the poor kid up."
"Maybe it's the other way around," Amos suggested, speaking loudly so he could be heard over the wind and rain, "Maybe the kid's been following the snakes."
"The report said the tracks were together. Snakes are dumb until they get hungry. Five Sickles says we find a pile of bones." Cumberfink paused. "And maybe some small runners."
The thought was dark but such was their line of work. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had sent both men to investigate rumors and then sightings of snakes in increasing frequency since August. Now it had come up that a vetted Magical Snake specialist had come across unusual tracks-two large snakes and the footprints of a child. No missing child report had been filed in the magical community so obviously a muggle child was lost and being followed. Or hunted.
Amos and his partner had been on the case for going on two weeks. After that scare with the Longbottom family back in November of the previous year, the Department had doubled its resources to potentially locate the animal responsible, but that funding had run dry. Rumors still circulated of a curse that could turn you to stone, or a magical snake with a killing stare, but without any money to back them the Department had to pull its investigation into the matter. The Longbottom family had since made a full recovery with donated Mandrake Draught from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Unfortunately there had been an accident with a shipment of Doxy and nearly 200 were released into the wild. The majority of the Department had been sent to relieve the surrounding Muggle areas of the infestation when the tip had come in. Only Amos and Cumberfink had been in the office when the summons arrived.
"And on a night like tonight," Cumberfink muttered under his breath, "Don't envy the others one bit. Catching Doxys in this mess, pfah!"
Amos ignored his partner and cast his gaze out into the night. The rain and late hour did make sighting things difficult, but not impossible. He squinted and rose his wand higher.
"There," he said after another moment searching, "There's a snake trail. Between those two trees and the bush-"
The other wizard was making his way over before Amos had finished his description. Muttering all the while, he bent down to check. Sure enough there was a clear trail where a snake had been. Fresh, too, he guessed from the way the rain hadn't washed it away yet. Amos had caught up with him and was examining the tracks as well. The rain was beginning to come down harder.
"Lucky," Cumberfink admitted as he stood back up, "But it's no muggle tracks anywhere near here. They must've eaten the kid already."
Amos shook his head. "Don't be so grim, Cumberfink. Let's hold on to hope, eh?"
"In this rain?" The other wizard gestured to the sky. "We're lucky to have found this much. Let's call it a night and come back in the morning."
The Diggory patriarch grinned and made an appeal.
"Ten Sickles says we find the kid AND the snakes, and a Butterbeer on me before the night's out."
Cumberfink stood up straight. "You're daft, Amos," he accused, though he lit the tip of his wand with Lumos, "We'll find nothin' in this downpour and you'll be out ten Sickles. No going back now, y'hear me?"
"I hear you fine," Amos assured him with a grin as they moved forward, wands drawn.
The faint light of Lumos in the rain led them here and there. Sometimes they lost the trail and picked it up again. The mud was making tracking more and more difficult, and the weight of their water-soaked boots was making each step more weary. A wild owl swooped overhead. Amos was strangely keen on keeping on the elusive trail. Cumberfink noticed that as the night and rain wore on, his partner grew more and more determined to continue their search.
A quarter past midnight and after nearly losing the trail for the sixth time Cumberfink made them stop. Amos' protests were strong.
"There's a child, Cumberfink, wandering around in all this! Lost! Alone! It's irresponsible for two grown adults to even think of leaving him, or her, on their own in all this! It's bad enough we're lost out here in all this rain and wind and mud! Can't you think of that child? We have to find them!"
His partner protested just as strongly.
"We've been trying, man, for hours! It's dark, it's wet, and we've no clues to follow but the tracks in the mud that keep disappearing! We'll lose the trail for good next time. I say we mark it and go home. You can keep your Sickles."
Amos let out a surprising litany of non-magical curses.
The tips of Cumberfink's ears went red just listening to it.
"You're lucky ain't no one about to hear you, Amos," he muttered. "My old mother'd scrub my ears with soap, jus' for listening to that."
Amos' cheeks reddened a bit; he almost never let his co-workers see him frustrated, and he never ever cussed. It was more than a little embarrassing.
At that moment lightning lit the sky and the surrounding ground, and both men caught sight of the trail again. They pressed on.
Amos Diggory couldn't say why he felt so strongly about this case. Maybe because it was late at night and he was already exhausted from a full day's work. Maybe it was his age. Most likely, he thought, it was because he was a father of a son who would be headed off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in one year's time, and he was already terrified of his son going off into the world of magic without him. Whatever the reason, it drove him to look harder and search longer.
That drive was probably what helped Amos catch sight of something in the dark of night during a rain storm. In the dim light of Lumos, against the howling wind and the groaning trees, Amos could make out unusual shapes ahead taking refuge under the lowest branches of a huge tree. He threw his arm out to stop Cumberfink and gestured ahead.
Both wizards whispered "Nox," and the light at the end of their wands went out. They made their way cautiously toward the tree. As they grew closer they made out hissing sounds.
Cumberfink had his wand at the ready. Amos gripped his tightly and steadied his footing. They took up strategic positions to catch their target in a crossfire. Both wizards stole glances from around their cover, searching for a clear sighting of their target.
It came after several tense minutes of waiting; a flash of lighting overhead illuminated the figures beneath the branches.
A boy lay curled in a small ball, unconscious or asleep, it was impossible to tell. On either side of him were the huge coils of two different snakes. One Amos identified on sight as a Python, but it was massive for its species. The other had coloring and markings he couldn't identify, which thrilled the part of him that lived to classify new species of magical creatures.
Cumberfink caught Amos' attention with a flicker of Lumos. The older man joined him behind a broad bush to discuss an approach.
"I say we Stun the snakes and Accio the boy," Cumberfink said straight away, "They all seem to be sleeping. It'll be quick."
"And it might wake the snakes," Amos argued, "We can Obliviate the boy, we need to worry about not waking the snakes. That python shouldn't give us trouble but that huge blue one-"
"Can you ID it?" His partner asked, "I couldn't make out the markings-"
"I'll have to get a closer look," Amos admitted. "And I don't want to risk the boy's life by waking and agitating an unknown species."
They weighed two more plans before agreeing on just extracting the boy as silently as possible. Ignoring the snakes for now, both men focused on setting up a careful retrieval.
"How good's your summoning?" Amos asked. Cumberfink was already rolling up his sleeves.
"Just you watch and see," he boasted, albeit at a whisper. He rose his wand with a flourish and cast quietly.
The boy slipped up into the air and stopped just short of hitting the lowest hanging tree branches.
Amos held his breath as the boy floated out into the rain. The wind or thunder could wake the boy at any moment. It was with great relief that the boy tumbled out the air and into his waiting arms without waking.
He adjusted his grip on the lad with surprise. The boy he'd guessed at a glance was five or six stones. He was much lighter than that. With Cumberfink's whispered Lumos, both men could see the boy was young, not even ten years old. His clothing was worn and smelt awful, as if he had worn the same shirt for months. The boy's hair was a matted mess but other than being filthy he seemed unharmed. Both men heaved silent sighs of relief.
"What're we going to do about them?"
Amos looked out beyond their cover. The two snake shapes were still coiled, unmoving. They hadn't roused.
"I say we take the blue one in for ID," Cumberfink began, "We'll share credit for finding a new species, or identifying a rare one. We might even get a pay raise! Think of that, old boy. While the others were out all night picking up after Doxys, we'll have bagged a promotion! I'll buy the Butterbeer. What'd'ya say, Amos?"
The boy stirred in Amos' arms. The older wizard was too busy considering the extra Galleons from his potential pay raise that he didn't see the boy's drowsy green eyes open.
"I dunno, Cumberfink," Amos said teasingly, "You protested pretty hard, didn't you? Didn't want to keep on, didn't you?"
"Don't be like that, Diggory," the other man pleaded. "I been out here all night, jus' like you! We're partners, a team! Remember?"
"As your senior, I'll have to think about your attitude from all night," Amos continued, clearly enjoying his teammate's suffering. "You were awful keen on jumping ship, after all."
"Amos, think of all we've been through together! You an' me, through thick and thin... Um, through wind and rain and all this muck! Don't say you'll leave me hangin'!"
Cumberfink went to grab Amos' arm and grabbed the boy's face on accident.
The boy yelled.
End Chapter