"We have to split up again," Haylie urged everyone, peering around her group of friends, "we can't stop and chat while Cora and Brandon are out there in danger. Not to mention Harry, Ron, and Corinne."
"Haylie's right," Hermione said, grabbing both Eileen and Elvin's arms and pulling them back into the dark underbrush of the forest. Before they were out of earshot Haylie saw Elvin turned around and wave wildly.
"Bye Haylie! Bye Damon! We'll see you soon!" he shouted so both Damon and Haylie could hear his far-off farewell. Haylie waved back, even though Elvin was now turned around and being scolded by Hermione, probably because he had practically let the whole forest know they were there.
"Come on Haylie," Damon said sternly, "We need to find the Honeyduke kids fast so we can get out of here." They started to walk quickly down the trail, occasionally stopping to take a quick check around them. Noises erupted all around them when they stopped. Such noises as crickets chirping, leaves rustling, and tiny rodents crawling through the bushes and up the trees created a stir in the woods, making true the old saying "The forest never sleeps." All of a sudden Damon stopped so abruptly the Haylie ran right into him, her nose digging into his shoulder. She jumped back, rubbing her throbbing nose, and gazed around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Damon? What's wrong?" Haylie whispered, taking a step closer to him.
"Nothing," Damon said, turning around to face her, "Just put your earrings back on."
"Why?" Haylie suddenly felt frustration explode inside her, "They didn't help us before! There was no danger around and they were glowing! Obviously they don't work right. "
"Oh, they work alright," Damon snapped, turning around and beginning to walk further down the trail, "You just choose not to see it."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Haylie yelled, running as fast as she could to catch up with Damon. Once she was walk right behind him she reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around and look her way. His face looked annoyed now, but Haylie knew hers must have looked angrier. Haylie definitely did not like it when people outright told her she was wrong.
"What I mean is that there was evil there and the earrings have tried their best to warn us about that evil," Damon told her knowingly, jerking his arm out of her grip, "Fortunately, I listen to their warnings, unlike you, who always thinks she's right and never ever takes the time to see what is right in front of her own large nose."
"Excuse you!" Haylie scoffed, stomping her foot viciously, making the pebbles beneath her toes scatter in all different directions, "I do to listen…..and….and I don't have a big nose!" Damon rolled his eyes and started to turn around, but Haylie, once again, stopped him.
"Haylie just put the earrings on! Okay?!" Damon yelled. Haylie noticed that his voice seemed pleading in some way, so Haylie begrudgingly put on her earrings.
"Thank you," Damon muttered, his voice sounding both annoyed and relieved.
"You're welcome," Haylie mumbled back, avoiding his eyes as they walked even farther down the trail. Haylie crossed her arms in front of her chest, letting a "humph" sound emerge from her throat. When she finally chose to look at Damon she saw him shaking his head and whispering angrily to himself.
"I can hear you, you know," Haylie lied, taking pleasure out of pushing Damon's buttons. With this, he stopped abruptly and started to talk, but this time he was still facing forward.
"Haylie….I'm just trying to make you see," all of a sudden Damon stopped talking and whipped around, his eyes wide and excited, "Haylie! Take off your necklace!" At once Haylie knew what he wanted them to do.
"Ohmigosh! I completely forgot about that," Haylie said, running her fingers around the silver chain, trying to find the clasp. Once she finally unhooked the clasp, she held it out on her flat palm. Damon stepped toward her and started to fiddle with the necklace.
"I can't find the button…oh wait! Here it is!" Haylie suddenly saw the necklace start to glow with a gleaming pearl beam.
"Hogsmeade," Haylie heard Damon yell and all of a sudden the necklace flashed brilliantly and finally flattened out in the form of a Hogsmeade map.
Damon finished by saying several peoples names, "Cora Honeyduke, Brandon Honeyduke, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Elvin Danebridge, Corinne Daney, Eileen Maloney, Damon Shockley, and Haylie Granger." All of a sudden a number of tiny black dots, labeled with everybody's names appeared on the map. Most were moving, except for four. Haylie recognized the first two as being Damon and herself, while the other two were labeled Cora and Brandon Honeyduke.
"There they are!" Haylie said, unable to disguise the excitement in her voice. She glanced over at Damon, expecting to see a smile on his face. She was surprised to see that Damon was definitely not smiling, in fact, he appeared frightened.
"Damon, what's wrong? Isn't that great? And look…Eileen, Hermione, and Elvin are right near them! They'll be found and safe and…." Haylie stopped when Damon suddenly took off down the trail, his hair blowing wildly in the wind.
"Damon! Wait!" Haylie shouted, clicking the tiny silver button on the necklace and waiting for the map to disappear before running after him. He was too far ahead for her to catch up to him right away, so Haylie followed him, all the way down the path through twists and turns and finally into a large field, hidden within the trees and bushes. It was a very large field, with tall grasses and only one large tree stump smack dab in the middle. Toward the left side, Haylie could see a small wooden house, which appeared to only have one floor. It looked disheveled and abandoned, with missing shutters and the wooden looked as if it was molding, as it was starting to turn green and weathered. Haylie could see Damon running towards it at full speed, not even stopping to tell Haylie what he was planning on doing. Before Haylie could make up her mind on whether she wanted to wait for Damon or follow him inside the house, she heard a familiar girl's voice calling out her name. At the far corner of the field behind Haylie were Hermione, Eileen, and Elvin, all running frantically to join her.
"Grassioshorto," Hermione yelled, clutching her wand and tapping it in the air. All of a sudden the tall grasses that had reached as high as Haylie's knees were now as short as though freshly cut. Haylie gave her sister a thankful smile and turned back to the house to see Damon and two children emerge from the front door.
"Damon! Thank goodness!" Haylie yelled happily, running toward Damon, Cora, and Brandon. She gave both of the Honeyduke children long hugs and she could feel tears swell inside her eyes. They were finally found and would soon be safe. Once she had let go of Cora, Haylie stood up straight and went in to give Damon a hug. To her dismay Damon was glaring straight ahead at Hermione, Elvin, and Eileen.
"All three of you stay back!" Damon yelled, digging his hand into his robes and emerging with his wand, alert and ready.
"Damon? What is this?" Haylie asked, confused and scared. She didn't like seeing Damon turn angry like this, especially not with his wand being pointed straight at Hermione.
"Remember how I told you that the earrings had worked in the forest when they went off? Well who was near us when the earrings sensed danger? These three," Damon told her, not removing his eyes from Hermione, Elvin, and Eileen, nor releasing his firm grip on his wand, "The cloaked figure I one of these three Haylie." Haylie gasped, taking a step backward so that she was behind Damon. Something inside her made Haylie truly believe that Damon was speaking the truth.
"What?!" Eileen snapped, her voice sounding both angry and surprised. She immediately placed her hands on her hips in her signature "annoyed" pose, "You've got to be kidding me." Damon gave her a venomous stare before moving his eyes from one face to another, examining their features, making them feel small and alone.
"Haylie," Hermione whispered, taking a step forward, her arm outstretched. Almost instantly, Damon leaped in front of Haylie, his wand pointed right at the tip of Hermione's nose.
"Stay back!" he growled, "If any of you come near Haylie or the children, I'll use my wand."
"Oh no," Elvin whimpered from behind Hermione, his eyes looking scared and sullen. Haylie moved out from behind Damon and signaled for Hermione to move back. She blinked for a few seconds before acting on Haylie's order. She moved all the way back to where Eileen and Elvin were standing, forming a straight line. Haylie looked from Hermione's blank face, to Eileen's annoyed pose, and finally to Elvin's terrified eyes.
"This is ridiculous Damon!" Haylie said, her voice higher than usual, "How could any one of these three be involved? What would they be after? We're all in Hogwarts for goodness sake!"
"Haylie! Listen to me!" Damon snapped back, "The cloaked figure has been asking for certain things right? What were they?"
"Well," Haylie tried to remember the cloaked figure's requests," He wanted the passwords to all four houses and he asked for a book of children's lullabies, which I got from Elvin's room…"
"You were the one who took my lullabies book?" Elvin suddenly gasped, his face looking more embarrassed than anything. Haylie nodded to him with a slight smile, before turning back to Damon.
"He didn't really want much else, but he told me he was after someone," Haylie mumbled softer, "He told me I was a tool to get who he really wanted."
"And you never figured out who that really was?" Damon asked, his eyes occasionally glancing at the three suspects.
"No," Haylie muttered regretfully, "But we do know all of this has something to do with the Muggleborn Defeaters and the Defeaters of the Defeaters." Haylie turned her face toward the house and then looked back down at the children, who were standing so close to Damon that they were practically hanging off him. Cora appeared to be crying softly, while Brandon patted her lightly on the back. Haylie could feel her eyes sting slightly and she turned back toward Damon and her friends.
"They have nothing to do with any of this!" Haylie yelled at Damon, even though he knew he was probably going to prove her wrong. She was correct.
"Haylie, are you blind? The earrings went off when those three were around us! This means one of them, or even all three of them, are a danger to us! There's also the fact that the cloaked figure had to have known us because they knew all about our…fighting and our lives and our friends.," Damon looked angry now. Haylie could tell that he was so sure that one of their friends was the cloaked figure. At once, she trusted his judgment. Haylie gazed at Hermione, Eileen, and Elvin. They were all looking expectantly at Haylie, as if asking her whether she believed him. She now realized that she did.
"Cora and Brandon," Haylie now turned to the Honeyduke children, who lifted their swollen eyes toward Haylie's, "Do you know which of these three people is the person who took you? Do you know who the cloaked figure is?" Brandon took one frightened glance at Hermione, Eileen, and Elvin before answering Haylie.
"Yes," Brandon whispered so only Haylie, Cora, and Damon were within earshot.
"Can you tell us?" Haylie prodded, trying to make her voice sound as calm and sweet as possible.
"No," Brandon answered, lowering his head slightly.
"Why not?" Haylie asked, her voice sounding sterner.
"Because the cloaked figure said they would kill us if we told anybody!" Cora chimed in, her voice loud and clear. Haylie closed he eyes for a few seconds and shook her head.
"Haylie?" Damon's voice ended her moment of self-pity. She stood up.
"Okay, which one of you is the cloaked figure?" Damon asked, with a demanding tone in his voice. It didn't take long for Eileen to break the silence.
"Well, it's definitely not me! What is with you people always believing that just because I have a slight attitude that I'm evil or something?" Haylie would normally give her friend a smile to reward her for her spunk, but now was not the time. Even Eileen was a suspect. Haylie looked between Hermione and Elvin, waiting for one of them to speak up. Haylie wasn't surprised when Hermione was the first to talk, after all, Elvin had always been very shy.
"Haylie, you know me better than this. You know I would never do any of this…" Hermione said, her voice cracking.
"Than why were you missing from your room with the window wide open two nights in a row?" Eileen interrupted.
"Shut it Eileen!" Haylie snapped, now looking back at Hermione. It was apparent, though, that Hermione had said what she wanted to say. All of a sudden, Haylie heard a loud crackling sound, like that of candy wrappers being crumpled between someone's fingers. Haylie looked around until she finally spotted a little light shining on her Ringer Ring. Someone was trying to call her. Haylie pushed the side button and heard Corinne's voice.
"Haylie? Damon? Are you guys there?" Corinne asked, her voice sounding shaky.
"Yeah I'm here, Corinne. What's wrong?" Haylie answered back, speaking into her ring loudly.
"Where are you guys? We're on the main trail," Corinne said, pausing for a second. Haylie could hear two male voices softly in the background. Obviously Ron and Harry were trying to decide on which way to go. Haylie smiled, thinking about how it's always the women who ask for directions.
"Just keep walking straight down the trail; it will lead you to a huge wall of bushes. Once you're there, just run through the bushes and you'll be in a huge open field with an abandoned house right on the brim. That's where we are. Hurry, we need backup," Haylie finished, not even waiting for Corinne's response before returning her attention to the suspects.
"Anything else you want to say Hermione?" Damon asked, his hand still clutching his wand tightly.
"It's not me," Hermione whispered, her eyes digging deep into Haylie's.
"And it's certainly not me!" Eileen scoffed, "I don't even know how you could think that after I've helped you all this time."
"Then there's only you left…" Damon turned his wand on Elvin. Haylie peered over Damon's shoulder and saw Elvin, his eyes still as frightened as ever and his hands fidgeting nervously. Then, to Haylie's dismay, Elvin's expression changed to one of smugness and wickedness. He stood up straight and his eyes were now flashing darkly.
"Well, since you called in backup, I might as well get the show on the road," Elvin said, grinning and walking forward, "After all, now since you've found me out, maybe you could give me a better name than The Cloaked Figure."