Chapter 3
Draco spent the next day wandering around Headquarters. Sky Lorrel and her crup had gone to do what she called "gnome hunting" and it was therefore safe to roam around Headquarters without being bitten by the very aggressive little dog. Draco saw many other Death Eaters that he thought he had seen in the Daily Prophet, but he couldn't remember their names. He didn't talk to them, and they merely stared at him.
The old inn was very plain, and it bored Draco. He went outside. There was a lake a short distance away from headquarters. It was hard to tell exactly how deep it was, but from the surface, it looked bottomless. It was relaxing by the lake. Draco heard small animal of some sort scampered around in the tall grass. Floating on the lake was something that resembled a rotting log, but Draco thought that he saw four paws and a pair of narrow eyes on it.
"That thing has been there for weeks." said a voice a few feet away. Draco jumped and pulled out his wand. A girl, maybe a year or two older than him was standing a few feet away. She had wide green eyes and slightly curly light brown hair. "Did you apparate here?" asked Draco. He didn't lower his wand. "No, I'm bad at it," said the girl. "I have my own ways of getting around. That's how I know that you're Draco Malfoy. I hear things even when people don't want me to. That's also how I know that you're in Slytherin House at Hogwarts, you just turned sixteen recently, and you just got back from your fifth year at school."
Draco just stood there. He didn't feel at all comfortable that someone whom he had never met before knew so much about him. The girl giggled at his confusion and said, "You can lower your wand. I'm not going to attack you." "First, tell me who you are." said Draco. "I'm Carrie Annen," she said. "I'm a Death Eater. I can prove it to you." She rolled up the left sleeve of her robes and Draco saw the Dark Mark branded on the crook of her left arm. "Lower your wand and we can chat." said Carrie cheerfully. Draco stowed away his wand in his robes.
"Is there anyone with you?" he asked, looking around. "Well, my sister, Amanda should be coming outside soon," replied Carrie, glancing back at Headquarters. "She's probably training with the Carrows." She turned around and stared at the strange log in the lake. "As I was saying," she said. "That dugbog in the lake has been there for ages. They have very sharp teeth and they kill my mandrake plants, which I've been trying to grow for months! I've been trying to get rid of it, but it dodges all of my curses."
Draco nodded and pretended that he understood exactly what she was talking about. "I've tried using several charms to protect my mandrakes," she continued with a sigh. "But they haven't worked too well. Mandrakes take a long time to grow to full size. They can be used to make medicinal potions, and we're running low on them. It's so frustrating! That thing keeps destroying half of them before they're even one foot tall!"
At that moment, another girl, who looked around the age of ten, came running forward. Her long hair, which was tied into two pig-tails, was the same shade as Carrie's. She had wide green eyes and wore a pair of glasses. Draco knew by the resemblance that this was Carrie's sister. "Carrie!" she yelled. "Alecto says to come inside quickly!"
She came to a stop next to them and spotted Draco. "Who's he?" she asked. "Amy, this is Draco," said Carrie before Draco could introduce himself. "He's Narcissa Malfoy's son. Draco, this is my sister, Amanda. Now, what's going on?" "Sky Lorrel saw people in the woods!" shrieked Amanda. "We don't know who they are, but it could be the Order! We need to go inside now!" "What's the Order?" asked Draco. "He doesn't know who the Order of the Phoenix is?" exclaimed Amanda. "How stupid is he?" "Enough, Amy," said Carrie quickly. "We can discuss it later. We have to get inside immediately!"