Hermione was first to let go of the bat when they arrived. "Wow," she breathed, looking around. "Harry, this is amazing! I suppose the houses are on the other side of those hills. I never knew the Settlement had so much open space!"

"Seems like there should be more people around, doesn't it?" Harry said, pulling the bat out of his lieutenant's hand and shrinking it quickly to fit it into his pocket. "I hope everything's all right. Come on, let's see what's around, shall we?"

"I feel your standards aren't quite fair," Malfoy spoke up abruptly. "The doctor-" he executed a shallow, sarcastic bow in Hermione's direction- "isn't calling you 'Captain.' I shall be registering a complaint when we get back to headquarters."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Malfoy." Harry sighed. "Call me what you like, all right? Just try not to be a complete prat the entire time we're here, if you could."

Hermione was already halfway up the nearest hill, Neville in tow. "Quit fighting and come on!" she called over her shoulder at the two men lingering behind. "Ron's over there somewhere!"

"Move carefully, Doctor," Harry called back to her. "Have your wand - is that a house-elf?"

The tiny creature had just crested the hill and was moving toward them at a dead run. "Stop!" it wheezed, flopping down on the grass to catch its breath. "Robby's master says you is to stop! Robby's master wants no interruptions to his experiments! You is not to come over the hills!"

"What is this-" Draco began, but Harry cut him off, "You're Robby, then? Hello, Robby. I'm Harry Potter."

Before he could introduce his crew, Robby nodded. "Robby knows who sir is, sir! Robby's master is telling him, you is to stop Harry Potter from coming over the hills! Sir..." The house-elf lowered his voice to a whisper. "Sir, Robby's master will be very angry if Harry Potter does not stop. Robby does not want his master to be angry, sir."

"Oh, come on," Malfoy said crossly, and he pushed past Harry. "Are we really going to listen to this - this thing? Who cares if its master gets angry with it? We do have a mission, you know, Potter."

"Robby's master will not be angry with Robby, sir," the house-elf said quietly, looking even more frightened than was usual for a house-elf. "Robby's master knows that Robby tried his best."

"Well, that's good, at least!" Hermione said sharply. "His master's obviously not that dangerous, if he treats his house-elf properly. Come on, then - he's already said his master won't be angry, what are you waiting for?"

"He said his master wouldn't be angry with him," Harry pointed out. "He might still be angry with us. Robby, what is it that your master doesn't want interrupted? Can you tell us that?"

Robby swallowed hard. "Robby cannot tell Harry Potter what Robby's master is doing, sir. Robby has to go back and help. Please do not go over the hill, Harry Potter! Robby's master will be very angry!" He turned and fled, disappearing over the hill almost immediately.

"Well," Neville said after a moment, breaking the silence. "That was odd. I wonder who his master is?"

"Susan Bones' mum had a house-elf, I think," Hermione mused. "But he was talking about a male master - I don't think he could've been hers."

"Unless she disposed of it and it found a new master," Malfoy pointed out. "Look, let's go on, shall we? I rather doubt there's anything lying in wait for us over the hill." He smirked. "Lead the way, Captain."

Harry drew his wand and moved to the front of the group. "Malfoy's right," he said aloud. "It's not as if Dumbledore would have sent a maniac as one of the Settlers, anyway. Let's go. Wands ready."

"If there aren't any dangerous maniacs, why do we need our wands out?"

"Shut up, Malfoy."

The group spread out as they walked, moving instinctively into one of the advancing formations they'd been taught during training, Neville and Hermione stepping between Harry and Malfoy by unspoken agreement. Just as they crested the hill, Hermione stumbled over something and cried out.

Harry was first to her side. "What is it?"

"I think there used to be a house here!"

Malfoy bent down and dug through the grass where she'd tripped, eventually exposing a few scattered bricks. "Look, you can still see where the foundation was. I wonder what happened?"

Hermione bent and picked up a bit of the soil, then let the breeze carry it out of her grip. "Ash," she said, straightening up. "And look, that brick's half melted. It must have been a fire. What happened to the people who lived here, though?"

"Er." It was Neville's voice, coming from a small grove of trees a bit further downhill. "Er, I... I think I've found them..."

"What?" The other three rushed to join him, slowing as they realized what he'd found. They entered the grove slowly, eyes wide, looking around them in something like horror. Then Hermione gave a strangled cry and ran over to one of the makeshift headstones.

"Ron! Harry, it's Ron's!"