Chapter 2
They did make it to Callao with little delay. The ship had been sturdier than it looked and managed the sky-high waves for another two days before they passed into the Pacific and met calmer seas. In the sunrise, Hermione watched the city lights coming ever closer. This is it, she thought, let's see if the spring of magic is as powerful as Voldemort assumed.
They were booked into a small but clean hotel near the port, with balconies overlooking a courtyard. There was no pool and no TV, but Hermione didn't mind. They didn't expect to stay long and this was not a vacation. All they needed to do was to get the support of the local police to get Luna back. Second, they needed to get an expedition together to take care of whatever was ailing Harry and his friends. All this shouldn't take more than a few days, Hermione thought. If only Malfoy stopped complaining.
"Muttering manticores, my mattress is so worn out, it's like they pulled it from the trash after a gazillion people slept on it and decided it was done for. And there was a snake in my bathroom. If only I could get my hands on some pisco: that would make things a lot more bearable, quivering quintaped."
"No spirits, Malfoy," Hermione hissed. "Remember your promise."
"Yes, yes," he muttered, adding one of his colourful curses under his breath. "Nincompoop. And why is it so freaking hot here? I'm melting, blistering barnacles." Hermione chose to ignore parts of his comment.
"Because we are close to the equator. Plus, are you a wizard, or what?" she barked quietly, lest she be overheard (or, Merlin forbid, she became aggravated), although there was hardly anybody in sight. Still, as expected, since they left the ship, she felt as if she was constantly being followed. "Hex it to your desires in the dead of the night. Heck, you could sleep under silk if you so required. Just don't forget to turn it back each morning, lest anybody sees. And put a cooling charm over yourself."
Malfoy looked at her as if he'd never seen her before. The alcohol must still be clouding his brain. "Four-coloured flapping Fwoopers, you're right, Granger. Go figure," he mumbled. "I'll do that, then."
"Right," she nodded to him, slightly pacified at his admittance. "Get yourself together, Malfoy. We're going to see the police. Crooksie, you stay here."
Crooks had discovered some snakes in the garden and was more than happy to stay and bark at them.
The police inspector sat in a small cluttered office with the blinds shut to keep the sun out. An immense noise filled the air, coming both from a gigantic fan and from what seemed like an empty terrarium gurgling on top of a filing cabinet. He was a small Peruvian man with a moustache and a constant film of sweat on his forehead. His odour proved to Hermione that there was likely sweat in other places, too, or dead animals somewhere in the office, but she needed this man's help, ergo it was unwise to point that out – or even wrinkle your nose, for that matter. She calmly reached out her hand.
"Inspector, how do you do? So very kind of you to see us immediately."
The inspector wiped his forehead with a checkered kerchief, an open ledger with a letter bearing a prominent familiar engraving in front of him on his desk. "Yes, well, you came with recommendations from the police direction. What can I do for you, Ms. Granger?"
Hermione was pleased that the letter from the Ministry had the required effect. "We are looking for a British colleague, who has been kidnapped, and is likely to have arrived in Callao on one of these days. Are you aware of a British female foreigner having landed in the past few days? Not too tall, blond hair, slightly dazed look?"
The inspector tried to be helpful. Wiping his neck, he said, "Well, now that you mention it, there was one, two days ago. Blond woman, the only one in a group of Peruvians. Came in by ship, just like you. The 'Yaminawa' . Kidnapped, you said? And who would have kidnapped her and taken her to Peru, of all places?"
Hermione tried her most charming smile despite her exasperation at this most obvious question. "Well, a group of Peruvians, of course." She ignored the inspector's affronted look while she ventured on to milk this helpful policeman. Malfoy stayed deliberately quiet, trying to melt into the background and even staying off his regular cursing. "You will remember that the directive you received mentioned a recent British expedition. The members of this expedition have fallen gravely ill, and we have to find out what befell them. My friend, Luna, who's been kidnapped, had an idea what it could have been, so we agreed to return here. But before we could take off, she was taken away."
The inspector's face had fallen like a shutter at the words 'British expedition'. "The recent British expedition? They would have gone to Aguas Calientes? Why didn't you say so before? Well, as a matter of fact, there was no blond woman. There was a British native, but she went quite willingly with her hosts, there was no sign of her being kidnapped."
"Of course not, you nitwit, she'd been Imperioused, err, drugged," Malfoy snarled from the back. He'd taken up position next to the fan, letting the cool air blow under his shirt and effectively blocking the inspector entirely from its effect on the room, making the poor man sweat even more profusely.
That poor man snapped for air, but Hermione was quicker. With a quick wave of her wand under the table between her and the policeman she obliviated his most recent memory of the insult and sent her sweetest smile at him again. "What my partner wants to say," here she put a silencing charm on Malfoy with a quick backward swish, "is that my friend has likely been threatened to the point of cooperation. Which makes it all the more important that we find and rescue her quickly."
The inspector shut his ledger with finality. "I'm deeply sorry, but I'm not able to help you. There was no such person coming in the last few days. Of course, I will inform you immediately as soon as I become aware of such a person. Which hotel are you staying in?"
"The Commodore on the Estrada des Playas," Hermione admitted hesitantly. It was more than suspicious that the inspector changed his mind so quickly - despite her spell, too - but he was a policeman, and he could find out quickly where they stayed in any case. Better to be non-threatening.
Hermione got up and shook the inspector's unwilling hand heartily. "Thank you, sir, I appreciate your assistance. Come on, Malfoy, let's go."
Malfoy struggled briefly, shooting angry glances her way, but followed her out without hesitance.
When they'd left the building and ventured some way into the touristy part of this town, she lifted the spell on him, only to be showered with his protest. "Why in the world would you shut me up, Granger? Lubberscum, miserable Miser, Monopolizer, Misengamot!"
Hermione almost chuckled. The alliterative and almost-sense-making quality of Malfoy's curses had improved and had a very entertaining effect. However, in sight of Malfoy's righteous anger, she sobered quickly. They were in trouble, indeed.
She said busily, moving quickly through the crowd, "Because you would have showered him in curses, just as you're doing now, and I'd rather like to stay on his good side, that is, be inconspicuous and appear to be cooperative."
"But he was lying to us. He has clearly seen Lovegood, the pithecantropus." Malfoy was beside himself. It seemed as if he still couldn't believe how a simple policeman could lie to a Malfoy. This time, Hermione did smile.
"Yes," she conceded. "But we wouldn't get him to admit this, and by trying to force his hands, we would have made an enemy. Instead, he will leave us alone, happy to be rid of us so easily. We have other people to worry about. For example, the ones he was afraid off."
Malfoy grabbed her arm and pulled her around. "What do you mean? What people?"
Hermione got a quick glance at his worry before she extracted her arm quickly and hissed back at him. "Not here, Malfoy, keep moving. Let's get back to the hotel. Don't worry, I'll tell you, just don't be so obvious."
Muttering under his breath while he kept up with her quick pace ("snake charmer, showrunner, slubberdegullion"), they reached their hotel soon. However, before they reached the elevator, the receptionist stopped them.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, you have visitors. They are waiting in the lounge. Here, let me show you the way," the young man said eagerly, coming around the front desk swiftly. Hermione exchanged a quick, puzzled look with her companion who shrugged, and followed the receptionist through the entrance hall.
When the young man opened the door to show them in, she squeezed by him, expecting Malfoy to settle the tip. He did but not without mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "cheapskate, numbskull, Ministry goat".
Two wizards with robes custom-changed into black suits sat in opposing armchairs, bowlers on their heads, a set of tea and biscuits between them. They had grown moustaches, which looked utterly alike, giving one the expression of looking at twins. "Well, look who's finally arrived," one said to the other.
"One might even say, they have finally arrived," the other replied.
Hermione stood rooted to the spot, an unbelieving smile gracing her lips. Malfoy finally came up to her. "Crabbe. Goyle. What on earth are you doing here, you numbskulls?"
Goyle, being the slightly bigger one, got up and came to them with his hand outstretched. "How do you do, Malfoy? And you, Ms. Granger?"
Flabbergasted, they took his hand and shook, at least until the over Malfoy's curses slightly-offended receptionist had closed the door behind him and disappeared. With the door's shutting noise, Malfoy took his hand violently back, almost upending Crabbe, who had imitated the handshaking of his companion.
"Well? What do you have to say for yourselves, you pickled porlocks?"
To counteract Malfoy's less than welcoming greeting, Hermione stepped in, took their hands and shook them heartily again. "I'm sure they have a very good explanation, Malfoy. After all, they work for the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement, being so good at interrogating as they are. Right, Gentlemen?"
Crabbe and Goyle's postures changed from disappointed-slouching to straight-up British pride. Even their bowlers sat dashingly straight. Being lauded by Hermione Granger had that kind of effect. "That's right," Crabbe replied. "We've been sent by the Department to give you a helping hand. After all, a kidnapped British witch being taken to Peru should be investigated. And since we're so good at questioning people …"
Goyle added firmly, "To be precise: we've been interrogated."
"Exactly," Hermione exclaimed before Malfoy could put a damper on their possibly only way to get an official search for Luna going by pointing out the nonsense they were saying. "Now, are you equipped to deal with local police, that is, have you been furnished with the appropriate international permissions etc.?"
Goyle looked a bit sheepish, that is, more than usual if that was at all possible, when he replied, "Err, not really, they just sent us on our way and said we would be filled in by you when we arrived. That's why we came to you right away."
Crabbe added, "To be sure, we came rightly filled."
Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline over Crabbe's gaffe; Hermione was disappointed. Without official papers, Crabbe and Goyle were just as useless as she was in getting local police cooperation. There was only one thing to do: they had to find Luna by picking up the clues from the ship. At least, she knew the name of it. Finding out where she was moored would be an easy thing. She filled her group in. They had to hurry before Luna was too far away from the town. They'd never find her in all of Peru without a hint of direction.
"All right, gentlemen, this is what we are going to do: we will find the Yaminawa and follow the clues from there, see if Luna has been on board and where she might have been taken. Agreed?"
The ship was easily found, Luna not so much. They had to wait for nightfall to be able to go aboard because the ship, not surprisingly, was heavily guarded. Hermione had to swim up from the waterside, leaving Crooksie at the quay with Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy, however, was by her side, and he levitated her aboard. With a Silencing charm on her feet, she sneaked around until she found a cabin that had clearly been inhabited by a woman with long blond hair until recently. Hermione found indications for both in the adjacent bathroom. The final proof was a necklace left behind, made out of butterbeer corks, and an earring with an attachment that had the form of a dirigible plum. What did surprise her a bit was a piece of Ashwinder skin on the table. Had Luna been brewing potions while here? But there was no time to think about this. They had to hurry after her.
When she regrouped with Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle, sitting out on her balcony in the hotel, a warming charm over her like dressing gown, her proof was accepted without question.
"Fair enough," Goyle shouted. "She was there. Now, where do we go from here?"
"Well, that depends on where they have taken her, don't you think?" Hermione asked, slightly exasperated. She was worried about her friend.
"To be precise, where would they have taken her?" Crabbe intoned.
Hermione took a deep breath. She had an idea about that. "Well, what do you know about Harry's recent expedition?" She dissected her plan quickly, only to be stopped by protests.
"In the jungle? Without a guide? We'd get lost."
"To be precise, we are lost."
"And there are snakes, bigger than men. They'll eat us!"
"Shut up, you squawking chizpurfles. Are you men, err, wizards or mice? Having your culottes full because of a few snakes," Malfoy barked at them.
"But they are everywhere. We even saw them at the quay while waiting for Ms. Granger. Right between the containers. I always thought they like the sun, not the clammy and smelly."
Hermione stopped them with raised hands. "Gentlemen, gentlemen. Snakes in a jungle are to be expected, even elsewhere. This is a tropical country, after all. We will be able to protect ourselves, I think. We have our wands, and with four people, we can take turns holding watch. If we are just a little bit on the lookout, we shouldn't have any problems."
She didn't quite believe it herself, but they had to get going. It was no use to sit here and speculate about potential problems. Crooks gave an impatient bark.
Malfoy deliberated. "Snakes, hmmmm. There was also one in the inspector's terrarium, too."
"What?" Hermione startled. "No, it was empty."
Malfoy scrutinized her, then shook his head. "Then, why would the motor have been running? No, it raised its head when you talked about the Peruvians that had kidnapped Lovegood. You didn't see it because you were focused on the inspector."
"Huh," Hermione conceded. Malfoy was good for something, after all.
"More snakes? I'm not going!" Crabbe decided. "I've had enough of snakes for the rest of my life."
"Shut up, Crabbe," Goyle interfered. "This is our job. You will go."
"To be precise, …"
Crooks growled into the darkness on the other side of the railing.
It was going to be a long night.
The train left early the next morning. They had to get out of the city by public transport not to raise suspicions. It was clear to Hermione that her every step was tracked and followed. Whatever she was up against was wide-spread in Peru, either admired or feared by the population, maybe both, and powerful. So, if she and her companions left by train in a northern direction perhaps she could lay off her tail for a day or two. If she made it appear they were going to Huacho to visit ancient Inca ruins, since they were in Peru anyway, instead of West on their way to Aguas Calientes, perhaps they could shake them off for a bit. It felt like a stupid, and perhaps even ineffective, ruse, but it was worth a trial.
They arrived in Huacho by lunch time and made a show of searching for a good lunch place when leaving the train station. Hermione even told Malfoy to ask the stationmaster for his recommendations. Thus equipped, they settled in the Los Pescos restaurant where they ordered and took a scrumptious meal, only to disappear from the washroom through the back door, first the men, and Hermione last after leaving a generous sum for the bill by studying the menu for desserts, ordering it, and leaving the money between the pages.
The restaurant backed onto some woods, which they had scouted out before their lunch, and they met again a few hundred yards into the thicket.
"All right, gentlemen." Hermione took the command. "We have to be quick. Apparating as discussed, to Jauja, the south exit of the city. Stay out of sight, of course. If we miss each other or have to shake of a tail, make a few extra jumps. Then straight on to Pampas, east exit, then Aguas Caliente. We'll meet again at midnight at the entrance of Machu Picchu. Gather some provisions on the way. We will have a long way ahead. I'll see you at midnight. Come on, Crooks, into your sling. Good luck, gentlemen." With a bang, they all disappeared at once and silence took the woods again, except for some rustling in the foliage when an animal slithered by.
There she was! Her blond hair covered under a hat, Luna was still recognizable in her robes as she followed her captors quietly, docilely. Malfoy was right, she must have been Imperioused or whatever else these Peruvians did with the same effect.
Thank Merlin, they were able to Apparate. They would have never caught up with Luna's kidnappers if they had followed the regular track. Now, if only Crabbe and Goyle would arrive, they could rescue her. Just she and Malfoy would be too few against four of them. She didn't know how much magic the kidnappers had, and they were certainly alert. They didn't leave Luna out of sight and kept her always in their midst.
She and Malfoy had arrived in Aguas Caliente as planned and only a few seconds apart, but Crabbe and Goyle had not. Whatever was keeping them, they still had several hours before the night, thus, Hermione and Malfoy had used it to check the arriving train for clues of Luna – and had hit the jackpot.
The mission quickly set about to leave the city with a bunch of llamas, which had been waiting for them when they arrived. So, wherever they were taking Luna, somebody had to track them from the beginning.
"Okay, Malfoy, we'll do it like this: I'll follow them, and you will wait for Crabbe and Goyle at the designated meeting point. We can see together right now in which direction they will roughly go, and then you'll come back and follow me and them once Crabbe and Goyle have arrived. All right?"
Malfoy agreed without much cursing, and together they followed the trek of Luna and her captors until they could be sure that the track was taking a north-western direction. Then Malfoy turned back.
"All right, I'll try to leave signs," Hermione said. "Watch out for marks on trees, rocks and broken branches and such. If all else fails, follow the snakes." She pointed to a muddy brown-green snake, which disappeared in a bush amongst the arid scenery just where the trek had passed minutes ago.
"Good luck, Granger. Bloody hell, be careful."
She smiled. "You, too. And come back with those two nifflers."
He smiled back. "Will do. Suffering sea-serpent."
It was already way past midnight when Crabbe and Goyle came up, dressed in traditional Peruvian clothing, strolling to the main entrance of Macchu Picchu as if they were taking a stroll in the moonlight, looking left and right at the sight.
"Pst, pst, over here," Malfoy whispered urgently from a bush off to the side. "Where have you been all this time? Why are you late? Did anybody follow you?" And he added as an aside, "And why do you look so ridiculous?"
"Follow us?" Crabbe replied in a regular tone of voice in astonishment. "Not at all. You?"
"Luckily, no, cackling kelpies," Malfoy gave back in a scathing tone. "We came here unbothered, but hours earlier. So, where were you?"
"Why, we took a look at the sights." Goyle looked around in wonder while explaining. "We've never been to Peru before. We thought we'd dress appropriately, so we would raise less suspicion. However, the Inca culture is astonishing, you should enjoy it, too."
Malfoy's jaw dropped at least ten centimetres. "You were sightseeing? Are you out of your blistering minds, you anacoluthons?"
Crabbe looked offended. "There's no need for name calling if one takes the leisure to enjoy an ancient culture. In fact, your lack of interest in such should rather be more reason for concern."
Malfoy lost it, never mind that they tried to stay hidden. "And did you remember that we are on a rescue mission? If you had been here hours earlier, like we did, we could have tried to re-capture Lovegood immediately. As it was, Granger and I were outnumbered and we couldn't try without your support. Did you think about that, you shipwreckers, terrapins, turncoats, bashi-bazouks?"
They looked a bit sheepish, but not much. Malfoy felt close to hitting them. Why did they have to be so thick? How did it come that these two nitwits got a job at the Ministry when he, Malfoy, had basically lost everything, the Malfoy name finished after the Voldemort fiasco, his father passed away in his Azkaban cell ages ago, his mother wasting away in the deeply indebted Manor? He was bitter and gruff and he knew it, but at least he still had some parts of his mind working, which was the reason why he had gone with Granger when she'd demanded he come with her – the benefits to his reputation of working with war-heroine Granger in restoring war-hero Potter and consorts were immeasurable. However, how was it possible that these two nitwits never needed to use their brains to succeed in life.
He couldn't help himself: cursing curse or not, he felt like yelling his lungs out. "Two-timing troglodytes! Odd-toed ungulates! Weevils! Vegetarians! Vermicellis! Vultures! Visigoths! Can you think perhaps one step ahead once in your life, you dimwitted doxies, you?"
Crabbe and Goyle had retreated a bit at his outburst and looked on wide-eyed, leaning as far back as they could without falling backward. When Malfoy ran out of steam, they straightened up, righted their chullos and with as much politeness as they could master, Goyle replied, "Right. Now that you got this out of your system, perhaps you would be so kind to let us know where we go from here?"
"To be precise, in which system would we be kind, do you know?"
Malfoy, trying to catch his breath – stupid alcohol, how could a simple outburst get him so worn out – pressed on. "We – follow – their - tracks - of course!"
"Well, then, lead the way, Malfoy."
He took a deep breath – a very deep breath – to gather his strength and some more oxygen, and with a last huff he went off, two morons in ponchos and chullos in tow. How did he end up here, he asked himself. Of all situations.
The jungle became very dense, a path barely visible. They had left the mountains behind after three days of trekking. Luckily, Malfoy had used the time since Granger's departure and the nitwit twins' arrival, as he was going to call them from now on, to buy supplies, two tents, sleeping bags and provisions, to be shrunk and lightened and stored in a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Granger's signs had been easy to follow and so they'd made good way, even with the two numbskulls. He could live with their stupidity, however, what worried him was the fact how people hid from him wherever they saw him. There weren't many, but it had already started in Aguas Caliente. The shopkeeper in the store where he'd purchased their supplies had almost not accepted any money and thrown him everything out in the street. When he'd demanded what was wrong, he'd been told "No se", whatever that meant. And every person he'd seen on the way had quickly turned around, away from him, and gone the other way. "No se" had been the call, "no se". He'd had it. What was going on?
They came to a crossroad, that is, rather a crosspath, with one going deeper into the jungle, and one going clearly toward the stream, which gurgled not too far away. This jungle was full of streams, there certainly was no lack of water. The footsteps of a larger company had been muddled up by some torrent rain but clearly went right, deeper into the jungle. There were no such marks on the left-hand path, and an arrow-shaped mark on the tree in the middle indicated going right as well. Malfoy stopped, waiting for Twiddle Dee 1 and 2 to catch up. When they'd reached him, carrying the ponchos over the arms and using some large leafs as fans, the shirt collars opened, he turned right to keep following the path.
"Wait a minute, why are we going right?" Goyle demanded.
Malfoy stopped and turned around nonplussed. "Because the marks are indicating going right, see?"
"Ah, but what if it's a trick? See, there are no clear footprints. What if they muddled up the path and then they went in the opposite direction to confuse us?"
Malfoy breathed deeply. And then he did it again. When it didn't improve his feeling of tiredness, he tried talking to them, nonetheless. "That would require that they knew they were being followed by us, which I sincerely doubt. Plus Granger has left a mark, as well. See there? The arrow on the tree points right, too."
"I agree with Goyle, Malfoy. You are always taking the lead as if we couldn't do it ourselves. What if it's a trick? I suggest half of us going one way, and the other half the other way."
Malfoy rubbed his tired face and sighed. He had even lost the joy of cursing. Having to suffer the antics of these two nogtails did this to him. How had he ever done it previously? "Half of us three would be one and a half. What a brilliant idea."
"Great snakes, you're right. What can we do about that?"
Malfoy had it. Again. "You know what? You two go your way and I go my way, and we'll see who finds Granger. Keep your eyes open, there are still snakes everywhere in the bushes. And don't fall into the rivers." With that, he turned and went down the path to his right.
"Don't worry," he heard Crabbe answer behind him. "They are wide open."
"To be precise, they're …" Goyle's shout was interrupted by the double bonk-sound of two heads running into a tree.
Malfoy did not turn back. He just couldn't.
He didn't meet another soul for days, not even when he passed simple settlements of few houses splattered throughout the endless Amazon jungle, and he had to admit that he felt a bit lonely. Keeping jungle animals, snakes and ants, alligators and jaguars and whatnots away when you tried to sleep at night, wasn't as easy as taking turns and chatting with a companion. Therefore, when a Peruvian woman in traditional jujuna and polleras in bright red crossed his path on the third day he was ready to even accept her gruff "No se", just to see that he was not alone in an endless jungle.
He approached her. "Ma'am, have you seen by any chance..?"
The woman lifted her sombrero and familiar brown eyes peeked out from under it. Crooksie gave a bark from behind a tree to the left and came around waving his tail. Malfoy had never been so glad to see Granger in his life.
"Granger, thank Merlin. I thought I'd never see you again. What's been happening, why did you turn back, where are we going now?"
Hermione grinned. "One at a time, Malfoy. Nothing's been happening, I followed their trek forever, Luna is still with them. However, I know where they are going, that's why I turned back to catch you and Crabbe and Goyle. Where are they, by the way?"
Malfoy waved his hand dismissively into the jungle. "Oh, hot on your trail elsewhere, the simple-minded troglodytes. I hope they won't get eaten by snakes, is all I say."
Hermione's brain was working quickly at the news. "Okay, then we will have to resort to brainpower if we don't have the manpower. I hope that will be enough. All right, Malfoy, let's get going. It's still a few days trekking until we get there."