Frederick closed his eyes tightly as the world around him twisted and turned. He felt his breakfast trying to fight it's way out of his stomach. His body was instantly hot, though completely covered in ice-cold sweat.

"I hate Portkeys." With a mumble, the Auror popped into existence a few feet higher than he was comfortable with above the Hogwarts forest floor. He yelped and then dropped several feet into a pokey, itching mess. The sensation of a pull behind his naval was gone instantly, replaced instead by an intense dizziness.

With another small pop, his purple overnight bag burst into being in the air above him. Before he had time to reach out, the bag dropped heavily into his stomach. He inhaled sharply and pushed it off of him.

Frederick sat up and began brushing the frozen, smashed twigs and branches from his coat. The portkey - a candlestick holder - seemed to be shift and vibrate for a moment on the ground ahead of him, before settling down and resuming it's duty as an inanimate object.

"Well, that may appear a little out of place." His brow furrowed as he realized that he may not have picked the best object for the task. The shiny faux gold metal would likely be easy to spot - and attractive - to anyone that happened to wander out into this area of the forest. The darkness of winter and the grey, lifeless hue of the plant life around it would only make it stand out even more.

With a slight twist of his wrist, Sable's wand shifted comfortably into his hand. He pointed it toward the portkey and gave it a slight wiggle. For a second, a gentle breeze seemed to have taken hold of the dead grass around the candlestick holder. The yellowed bits of withered plant began to move away from the object, piling up in a perfect ring around it. The frozen dirt underneath it also began to move as well. The once perma-frosted soil bubbled and stirred as if something was being super heated beneath it's surface - looking more liquid than solid for a moment.

With a strange sucking sound, the shiny gold thing was pulled quickly into the ground. The mud turned back into solid dirt and crackled slightly as it became refrozen. With another quick burst of wind, the grass arranged itself over the top of the whole thing - effectively blending it in, seamlessly, with the rest of the ground around it.

"That'll do, pig. That'll do." Sable smiled for a second and then began to rise up into a crouching position. He winced as he did so, a persistent stiffness of his right knee and back seeming to preform a double attack on him all at once. He paused briefly and brought his free hand around to the middle of his back - pushing and prodding against his spine roughly. The cold weather never failed to remind him of his age.

As he rose to his feet, another flick of his wand sent a sharp crack echoing around him. The four trees closest to where the portkey lay buried wiggled as if they had been hit with something. A large X carved itself into each, facing the hidden candlestick holder.

Satisfied with his work, Frederick hefted his bag up and over his right shoulder and began trudging in the direction of the castle. His breath tightened into large vaporous clouds as it exited his mouth, and he almost instantly regretted not packing his mittens. The sun seemed to be fading quickly, a large looming snow storm seeming to help it along. He would be lucky to make it into the school before the thick, dark clouds began to shower the grounds with their snow.

As he walked, Sable began to think back to his past experiences at Hogwarts. After graduation, he had only been back at the magical school a couple of times. He had been a special guest teacher for a few lessons of Defense Against The Dark Arts, years back, and he had been assigned as a member of the security team at a Triwizard tournament not long after.

Aside from these occasions, his schooling was a distant blur. He had been fiercely dedicated to his studies during his time as a student, and had generally concentrated on little else. While others had graduated with a deeply-connected circle of connections developed in the wizarding world, Frederick's emergence into the real world had been marked with a quick fall to the bottom.

While good grades and high marks could gain you the respect of your peers and praise of your teachers, the man had quickly found that the world beyond school was in some ways even more of a gossipy, catty environment than life had been inside Hogwarts castle.

Having come up just being the group of students that had saved the entire castle - and the wizarding world as a whole - Fred's class had only had their own opinions of each other to focus on.

The Auror stopped suddenly, remembering something important. Since had gone a full day without it, he had been severely neglecting his notebook. Slipping his wand back up his sleeve, be reached into his jacket and withdrew the small notebook and pen. He clicked the end of the pen twice and a dim red glow flickered to life on it's end.

In one quick motion, perfected through years of practice, the man tossed notebook and pen together into the air. As they reached the apex of their journey and began to slump back towards the earth, his wand appeared in his hand and he drew it across the air quickly. The thing made a sound and flexed slightly as he whipped it, and the notebook and pen both were stopped in mid air. As they hung there, the pen drifted over and it's point made contact with the next empty page in the notebook.

"Diane. First things first, I want to apologize. It has been a strange few days, and I haven't drawn anywhere closer to any conclusions - yet. I would still like to believe that Grindelwald is long-dead, but in my heart of hearts I feel that something is amiss."

As Sable spoke, the pen scribbled hurriedly across the floating notebook. The thing moved like it were held firmly in the grip of someone with lightning-fast penmanship - scarcely lifting even for the spaces between words.

"Second, Diane - please remind me to never, ever use a portkey again. No matter how pressing the matter is, if the Ministry can not find a way to get me there without losing my lunch, I will not be going at all." Fred continued, lighting the tip of his wand and continuing to walk. The notebook and pen trailed behind him, seeming to be so thoroughly caught-up in recording his words that it could hardly keep up with his long strides.

After another few minutes of strolling and dictating, the man emerged from the edge of the forest and could see the castle looming ahead of him.

The clouds above had just began to release a bit of what they carried, and only the highest turrets were dusted with a bright gray-blue color. The rest of the snow seemed to be dissipating before it reached the ground below, at this point. When he looked out across the expanse of grounds and to the snow-kissed towers twisting high above, he smiled. Despite having been a relative outsider during his time at the school, the place still brought back a strong feeling of belonging.

Sable had never been much for sports, or anything physical for that matter. The other boys in his neighborhood and always dominated him during their youngest years, most of them physically larger and much better coordinated. It was not until he had arrived at Hogwarts that he had finally felt that he had his own innate talents and abilities that set him apart from those around him. It had, in short, given him a feeling of purpose - for the first time.

The snow certainly suited the school and it's grounds. The school's greenhouses extended out from the building and towards Fred on his approach. They looked like giant ice cubes, frosted over by the winter weather. The lake's impossibly dark waters held one chilly pose, completely frozen over. Off to his right, the whomping willow batted angrily at the snowflakes as they fell.

Movement drew the Auror's attention back towards the Black Lake. A figure had seemed to suddenly appear at it's edge, moving swiftly away from the water towards him.

With a quick flick of his wand, Sable's notebook and ink pen flew dramatically back into one of his outer coat pockets. For a moment, he considered dimming his wand light. The heavy clouds cast enough of a darkness beneath them that he may have still been able to conceal himself.

"How silly." Fred spoke aloud to himself, raising his wand higher above his head and concentrating instead on intensifying it's glow. He had no reason to to be stealthy. He was on Hogwarts grounds. The approaching figure was likely a staff member or student out braving the cold.

As the other drew closer, the Auror could start to make out it's shape. Dark brown robes - unlike anything a student would wear - on a skin-and-bonds body. All he could make out of the face was a scraggly, wild beard that extended a couple of inches out from beneath the hood. It definitely didn't look to Fred like any teacher or staff member he could recall. He slowed his pace and then dropped to a crouch as the mysterious man seemed to move towards him quicker.

Fred considered turning and making a run for the castle for a moment. No one inside knew that he had arrived, and if he were to engage this man and somehow be defeated he wouldn't be missed for quite some time. As confusing as the last few days had been, he believed at least one thing with certainty: the boy in the photograph was in grave danger.

By now the man was close enough that Sable could make out more of the features of his face. The incredibly pale, almost translucent blue eyes and the thick, dark scar running down the side of his face. He knew that he had no choice but to face the man. He has always known, really. Frederick Sable did not run from battle - no matter what the risks.

"Stand down! I am here on official Ministry business!" Fred's words were grabbed and instantly tossed aside by the winter winds. He raised his wand and repeated himself as the distance between the two of them closed. The man still couldn't not hear them.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still for the Auror. Each of the other man's footsteps seemed to go on for several moments, the bursts of snow sent upwards with each step hanging heavily in the air.

Frederick ran through spells in his mind like he were flipping through a book of notes in school. Years of work in law enforcement had taught him hundreds of different ways to stop someone, but sometimes the best methods were those that were tried and true.

"Stupefy!"

Sable threw his will behind the word as he pushed it out into existence. For just a fraction of a second, it seemed as if his spell had been scooped up by the wind and disregarded. When it did come, though, it's power was clear. A tubular jet of scarlet light erupted from his outstretched wand and was sent spiraling towards the approaching stranger.

The beam seemed to travel impossibly fast and yet, somehow, the other man barely dodged it - throwing himself into an awkward roll to the ground at just the perfect time. The end of his robes sizzled as the spell singed a decently-sized hole through them before hit the ground with an explosion of snow and frozen dirty chunks.

The man had been prepared, though. In an instant he had rolled over and pointed his own wand back at the Auror, wordlessly hurling a reply.

Frederick was less successful in his own dodge, and found himself lifted roughly from the ground, heels-over-head. He - along with a large bit of the snow around him - was sent flying backwards. Several yards back, the man's purple bag fell silently to the ground - his concentration on keeping it levitating now completely lost.

As the other man drew his wand hand back and prepared to strike again, Sable rose to a kneeling position and pointed his own wand forward. He spat out a small bit of blood as they locked eyes and glared at each other, the other man's pale blues nearly blending in with the spiraling mix of snow and ice falling around him.

"Maybe you didn't hear me before," Frederick paused, feeling around with his tongue to find the source of the blood in his mouth. In the front of his mouth - above his two front teeth - he felt a sharp, stinging spot at the top of his gums. He spit once more, leaving a second red stain in the growing snow at his feet.

"My name is Frederick Sable. I am here on official business for the Ministry. At this point it would do you well to surrender your wand."

His words were punctuated by a sharp how of wind. The other man was unresponsive at first, simply holding his angry gaze with his own glare. Frederick could see him more clearly, now that they were close. He was thin - deathly so - and extremely pale. The contrast between luminous white skin and the dark grime that covered it was striking. The man looked as if he had never bathed in his entire life.

"Save it, Sable. I know why you're here," The man's twisted, sand paper voice was difficult to hear over the howling wind. He smiled a blackened, toothless grin before continuing, "and I know that you're too late."

With that, the bearded man lunged forward - seeming to put his weight into his next spell. The bright flash of green that came forward didn't look nearly as ominous as it usually would. The white swirls of snow blowing all around them seemed to absorb much of the killing curses' sickening hue.

This time, Sable was prepared. Confident, even in the face of death, his hand moved quickly and with purpose. Wand met spell with an intense burst of blue light, deflecting it uselessy into the ground to his left. The spot where it hit exploded with the sizzle of melting snow and ice as the spell tore deeply into the ground.

Before the other man could attempt a spell of his own, the Auror stepped towards him. A thick, jagged bolt of orange lightning crackled as it burst from the tip of his wand and slammed into the other man's chest. The man cried out as his limbs were drawn back, smaller lines of energy jumping in between each of them. His wand was ripped from his hands and thrown uselessly to the side by an orange tendril as he was pulled from his feet into the air.

"Now, I think it's time you tell me more of what you know."

Sable stood with his wand outstretched, still glaring into the other man's eyes as they widened. He rotated his wand and the man lowered closer to the ground, the white-hot electricity still holding tightly to his body. The Auror's purple overnight bag rose into the air behind him once again.

The wind hit a roaring stride and the down-pouring snow seemed to hit it's highest point of strength. The forest Frederick had emerged from was no longer visible behind him, and the castle ahead was very quickly fading into the white out conditions ahead. Another adjustment of his wand pulled the electric restrains, and the man within them, a few feet closer.

The other man remained silent, tugging at his restraints and fighting against the urge to cry out against the painful energy against his skin. His jaw clenched tightly, mashing the rotten remains of teeth together roughly. He was terrified - but not by the Auror. He knew that his master would not look kindly on him being captured. If he offered up any information, he was a dead man. In fact, he thought as he continued to struggle, he would probably be better off he were executed right then and there.

Another voice broke through the silence, words shouted to be audible over the increasing rush of wind.

"What's going on out here!? You put him down this instant!"

Frederick turned and, a few yards away from them, a third man emerged from the snow. Covered in a heavy dark cloak, he approached with his wand pointed squarely at Sable. The Auror almost turned his spell onto the newcomer immediately, before recognition clicked in his head. He knew this man.

"Donovan! This is some welcoming party you've sent me." He gestured towards the bone-thin man and twitched his wand once again. The electricity restraining him intensified - it's hum audibly growing louder for a moment. The other man groaned through his blackened, gritted teeth.

The Hogwarts groundskeeper lowered his wand quickly, realizing the identity of the man he had been threatening with it. He did not put it away, however, he only turned it so that it pointed at the already-restrained man. Only once it was trained on him did the man's strained expression begin to ease.

"Fred, I couldn't tell it was you at first. It's good to see you! I see trouble has seemed to follow you, as always." The small man reached up and drew his hood up onto his head as another gust of snowy wind whipped through the area they stood.

"Let's get into the castle, it's a little chilly out here for my liking."

Without asking any more questions or seeming too concerned about further explanation, the man turned and simply walked off into the blizzard. He signaled that he wanted Frederick to follow as he quickly vanished, presumably in the direction of the school.