Chapter 6

Lost and Found

The Forbidden Forest - Eight Years Ago

A twig snapped beneath Harry's foot, impossibly loud in the otherwise silent forest. Harry crouched and hid behind a tree before he remembered that he was invisible. Was he really panicking? No one could have heard that. Harry was certain the nearest people were over a mile away and his Invisibility Cloak was as perfect as ever. Then again, maybe he had good reason to panic.

First mission ever and you let your senior Auror get captured, Harry thought. Great job, Harry, really well done.

A prideful voice in the back of Harry's head piped up – Doxon had really gotten himself captured. Was it your fault that he couldn't produce a patronus in time? And the intelligence had been wrong – could Harry really blame himself when the reported two Death Eaters had turned out to be eight?

The logical part of Harry's brain knew he'd done the right thing, given the circumstances. The prideful part knew that very few other wizards could have escaped a dozen dementors and eight enemy wizards. But Harry wouldn't feel anything other than abject failure until he rescued Doxon and captured those Death Eaters – all eight of them.

He'd put plenty of distance between himself and the Death Eaters, but was he going the right way to circle around them? The Forbidden Forest was impossible to navigate in the dark. Harry'd been in here a few times after dark during his Hogwarts years and had assumed he could easily navigate these woods. Idiot. Harry let out a long sigh and –

"Show yourself, human! We know you're there! Cooperate now and we won't fire!"

Harry heard the groan of dozens of bowstrings being drawn. In his crouched position, he turned to find himself eye-level with more horse knees than he could count. He craned his neck to look up at what must be every centaur that lived in the Forbidden Forest. And nearly every one of them had a loaded bow pointed right at him.

"We are not patient, human. Do not test us!"

Harry raised his empty hands (perhaps a useless gesture under the cloak). "I'm going to reveal myself. I mean you no harm." Harry swept the Cloak off and held it loosely in his right hand.

"Hah! I told you!" said a dark-haired centaur very close to Harry. "I told you that the humans would eventually come to us. And now they are at our mercy!"

"They?" Asked a chestnut-haired centaur, also at the front of the herd. "I see one." He looked familiar…

"The rest will come to rescue their companion! This is the leverage we need. We'll be free of these humans soon enough", the black-haired centaur finished with a snort. And suddenly Harry recognized them both.

"I am not with the Death Eaters", Harry said.

"HA!", roared Bane, the black-haired centaur. "Of course you would say that! Do not think we are so easy to fool human!" Many in the herd whinnied their approval. "You wizards do not understand, we –"

"Magorian!" Harry yelled, looking at the chestnut centaur. The herd grew silent.

"You know me?"

"I do. And you know me. I'm Harry Potter." A rustle went through the herd as they whispered to one another. Not so different from humans after all. "We've met before. You fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. Helped defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Voldemort is dead – you helped see to that. But these…intruders in your forest. They are what remains of his followers."

The herd was silent and all but Bane were motionless. "We do not trust humans!" Bane called. "We will not fall for your tricks." But the herd remained silent, rather than rallying with him as before.

"I don't belong in your forest", Harry said, "I know that. I don't want any trouble with you or any other creature that lives here. But these other humans are criminals. They destroy and hurt wherever they go. I've only come here to stop them. To capture them and then leave. I could use your help."

Many of the centaurs exchanged glances and whispered. Harry couldn't quite make out what they said, but thought he heard his own name: "Potter". He was about to speak again but Bane did first. "Why does your name matter? You're as arrogant as any of your kind. You trespass on our land and then have the gall to ask for our assistance!?" Bane roared. "Why not have the centaurs solve all your problems for nothing in return! A not so tempting offer, Harry Potter."

The herd did not seem to share Bane's anger. Magorian in particular looked at Harry with a curious expression, so it was to him that Harry spoke. "I'm saying we should work together. I have great respect for centaurs. One of you saved my life my first year at Hogwarts – if anything I owe you. If you want the humans to leave your forest, just tell me how I can help you."

The majority of the centaurs fell silent, but Bane and Magorian spoke in a language Harry could not understand. The incomprehensible exchange (which sounded like mostly snorting to Harry) went on for some time and Harry remained motionless with his hands up. Finally, Bane raised up on to his back legs with a whinny and trotted deeper into the forest, away from the herd.

Magorian let out a very human sigh. "We are amenable to an alliance, Harry Potter, but I am not sure how much help we will be to your cause. Your Death Eater humans have a number of dementors with them." A shiver went through the herd at this. "We believe there are at least a dozen. They affect us just as they affect you humans, but we have no defenses against them. We cannot get near the Death Eater humans." Magorian dropped his head in shame.

Harry took a step towards the herd. "I can deal with the dementors." A centaur near Harry snorted incredulously and Harry glared at him. "I can! My obstacle was the wizards themselves. They've captured my partner and there are eight of them. Eight against one is always a bad idea, especially when dealing with the dementors will reveal my position. If I can eliminate the dementors, can you bring down the wizards?"

This was met with violent whinnying and the centaur nearest Harry rose up on his back legs. Magorian strode toward Harry with conviction. "Harry Potter, were it not for the dementors we would have eliminated the humans already!" The centaurs cheered in response.

"Then we have a plan!" Harry called over the cacophony. "We work together. I'll remove the dementors, then we all charge upon the Death Eaters and free my partner. Then all the humans leave, promptly." Harry extended his hand. "What say you?"

Magorian clasped Harry's outstretched hand. "We follow your lead, Harry Potter."

Orion Doxon awoke feeling abnormally stiff. He spent a full fifteen seconds trying to scratch his nose before he realized his hands were tied. Wait, what? His brain was moving incredibly slowly. His hands and legs were bound and he was tied to the trunk of the tree. It was nearly pitch dark. How did I get here? His head throbbed.

The last thing he remembered was leaving the Ministry. With Potter. The Death Eaters! They were hunting the last of the Death Eaters to escape Azkaban. With the Dark Lord two years gone they'd become desperate. Hiding out in the Forbidden Forest. Ironic they'd come here, so close to where their master had died. Doxon smiled and barked out a laugh…which was swiftly met with a kick in the gut.

"Keep quiet!" hissed a rough voice. "If we wanted to hear anything from you, we'd Cruciate ya!"

"Shut up!" another voice whisper-yelled. "There are other Aurors about. We need to keep quiet."

"Then why not silence this one for good?" asked the man who'd kicked Orion.

"A hostage may prove valuable. Just keep him quiet and let everyone else search." The man speaking was tall, his face obscured by a white mask that looked disturbing within his black hood. "The dementors will prevent anyone from breaching the perimeter tonight, but they won't be as effective once the sun rises. I'd like to be long gone by then."

At the mention of dementors, Orion remembered his capture. In his head he'd heard his father moving out, abandoning his family, calling Orion himself a disappointment just as he shut the door. It had taken him far too long to realize what hearing that childhood memory meant. Then – far too late - he attempted to cast a patronus and all went dark. The dementors couldn't be too near at the moment – Orion felt ashamed but not overwhelmingly depressed.

A third Death Eater, this one a woman, came scurrying towards them from the darkness. "I think I found it! This must be it!" She handed something over to the tall, white-masked Death Eater. A pebble, maybe? He pulled a piece of parchment out of his robes and stared at it and the pebble side-by-side.

"No, this isn't it. Keep searching."

The woman looked distraught "Are you sure? I really think that's it."

The white-masked man shoved the parchment under her nose. "Really?" he hissed. "Look at the diagram and tell me again that you think you found it." The woman spent thirty seconds studying the document before letting out a sigh.

"Fine. I'll keep looking." She turned to leave but the white-masked Death Eater grabbed her arm.

"Here", he said, stuffing the parchment into her hand. "Take it with you. Maybe then you'll stop wasting my time with false alarms." The woman stared daggers at him but walked back into the forest without another word.

Suddenly a bright light shone over a hill directly across from him, maybe a hundred yards away. It looked like a sunrise, only pale white.

"What the hell…" Orion's captor muttered, drawing his wand and facing the hill. The white-masked wizard noticed as well. "He can't be that stupid…"

The light grew brighter and brighter until its source crested the apex of the hill: a massive stag made of silver-white light, its antlers must have been two yards from tip to tip. Orion found himself transfixed, unable to look away from its ethereal beauty. The Death Eaters seemed to be caught under the same spell – they were slow to react when a man appeared next to the stag. Even from here Doxon could see the dark hair and glasses. Potter.

The stag shook its head and charged while every wizard was still transfixed. It gored dementor after dementor, throwing them into the air and into nothing. Potter sprinted after his patronus, which was still thrashing dementors, but the Death Eaters now took action.

"Everyone!" called the white-masked Death Eater. "Prepare to attack at once!"

His call was met with loud whinnying cries from over the hill. Potter aimed his wand at the voice and a beam of light worthy of a lighthouse illuminated Orion and his captors. The Death Eaters flinched in the sudden brightness, and that hesitation was all it took. A second later the air was filled with the whistling of arrows.

Most of the Death Eaters raised Shield Charms in time to protect themselves – but not all. The man guarding Orion was one of the slow ones. He let out a shriek of pain and fell to the ground as one arrow struck his shoulder and another buried itself in his thigh. The white-masked Death Eater started to yell orders again, but his voice was drowned out by the thunder of hoofbeats. Dozens – no, hundreds – of centaurs crested the hill and charged after Potter. The nearest centaurs had reloaded their bows and launched a second volley, and more centaurs were still coming over the hill.

"Fire at them!" the white-masked Death Eater screamed. "Attack now!"

The other Death Eaters seemed unwilling to lower the Shield Charms and expose themselves to the incessant hail of arrows. Orion strained against his bonds, trying to get a better look – then he saw a wand on the ground. His wounded captor must have dropped it. He stretched his foot towards it, but it was just out of reach…

The centaurs caught up to Potter and ran around him, hiding him from view completely. Soon they had the Death Eaters surrounded in a half circle, firing arrows from all angles. But the Death Eaters were not retreating.

"Hold steady!" one near Orion yelled. "Keep your Shields up, they'll run out of arrows eventually!" As if in response to this, the great silver-white stag separated itself from the centaur herd and charged directly at the Death Eater who shouted, its antlers lowered.

"It's just a Patronus!" he called, his tone less confident than his words. "It can't break our Shields!" but the stag passed through the Shield Charms like they weren't even there – and it was bearing down on the Death Eater. He stumbled back and aimed his wand at the stag, abandoning his Shield Charm.

"Stupefy!" He cried. "Impedimenta!"

But the spells had no effect on the stag. And it was getting closer.

"Avada Kedavra!" the Death Eater yelled when the stag was nearly upon him. But the green jet just passed through it without even slowing it down. The Death Eater threw his arms over his head in a futile attempt to protect himself – and the stag charged right through him. The Death Eater stood frozen for a moment, then tentatively touched his chest as if to make sure all of him was still there.

Potter appeared out of nowhere, pulling aside a silvery Cloak. "Stupefy!" the Death Eater dropped. Potter pointed his wand at Orion and then at the wounded Death Eater who'd been hit by the arrows – Orion's bonds ripped and the thick ropes bound the Death Eater instead. Potter clasped Orion's hand and hoisted him to his feet.

"Alright, Doxon?"

"Yeah. Actually, I'm feeling up for a game of hide-and-seek." Potter smiled in response and disappeared under his Cloak. The forest clearing was in chaos. Several centaurs had followed Harry into the Death Eaters' circle, taking advantage that a Death Eater had dropped his shield. Centaurs were everywhere: firing arrows, kicking, or even trampling Death Eaters. Several centaurs were on the ground wounded or unconscious, but they still outnumbered the Death Eaters ten to one.

Three Death Eaters – including the one in the white mask – had formed a small circle on the other end of the clearing and were cursing every centaur that came close. Orion snatched a wand from his fallen captor and ran their way. Time put their original plan into motion.

Orion fired spells at the trio of Death Eaters as he ran towards them. Nothing particularly dangerous, but plenty of flashes and bangs. One of them separated from the others and prepared to duel Orion – the woman he'd seen earlier. She cast a Shield Charm between the two of them and was immediately struck in the back by a jet of red light and she collapsed in a heap.

Orion instantly shifted his focus to the next Death Eater. Again he casted attention-grabbing spells and deflected a few curses from the Death Eater. He just had to keep him distracted for a bit, Potter should be in position any moment…Right on cue, another Stunner came seemingly from nowhere and hit the Death Eater from behind.

"Sectumsempra!"

The white-masked Death Eater made a slashing motion at a nearby tree. The trunk was wider than three men but the spell cut through it like butter. The tree seemed frozen for a spit second then, as if in slow motion, it teetered. Then fell. Right at Orion.

Orion sprinted to his right, the creaking of the tree loud in his ears. He dove head-first and pointed his wand to the sky. "Reducto!" The tree crashed to the ground but Orion's spell had blasted away most of the branches directly above him. He'd have a few scrapes and bruises but he'd fine.

"Imperio!"

"No, Harry!" Orion scrambled to his feet, his robe ripping on a protruding branch. But Harry hadn't been the target of the white-masked Death Eater's Imperius Curse. Orion saw Harry a dozen yards to his right – his Cloak partially pulled off but otherwise looking fine. The fallen tree now stood between the Aurors and the enemy. A centaur cantered over to the Death Eater and knelt before him, allowing the white-masked man to climb onto his back. The Imperiused centaur sprang back to his feet and galloped away from the battle. He was getting away.

"Come on!" Orion yelled to Harry as he scrambled over the tree. Orion used the Reductor Curse again but they were falling behind.

"He's running away from Hogwarts!" Potter yelled. "If he gets outside the school's boundary he can Disapparate!"

Damn. They'd never catch a centaur on foot. Orion looked to the rest of the centaur herd – they were rounding up the remaining Death Eaters, but none had chased after the white-masked one. They seemed to have even more difficulty navigating the fallen tree than the humans.

Orion and Harry chased after him but, after half an hour of searching, all they found of the white-masked Death Eater was a very confused centaur a mile from the clearing. He'd escaped. They walked back to the clearing in silence. The other seven Death Eaters were all captured – some stunned, some tied up with the centaurs' crude rope. Most Aurors would be thrilled to capture seven out of eight fugitives, but this felt like a failure.

Orion saw the female Death Eater who had argued with the white-masked one and realized there was one last sliver of hope: the parchment. Orion made a beeline for the woman and Potter followed. "They were looking for something in this clearing, Potter."

"What?"

"I'm not sure – some kind of rock? The other Death Eaters were bringing small stones to the white-masked one. He'd compare them to a piece of parchment, called it the 'diagram'. I bet it has a picture of what they were looking for. And", he said stopping in front of the Death Eater woman, "our friend here has it."

"But she seems pre-occupied", Orion said noting her bound hands and feet. "Potter, if you'd be so kind."

"Accio Parchment!"

A sheaf of parchment zoomed out of her pocket and into Potter's hand. He unfolded and examined it with a scowl. "Potter, what is it?" Potter seemed not to hear him but his face went stark white. "Potter?" Orion took a step closer and looked at the parchment over Harry's shoulder. The parchment contained a sketch of a large, rather ugly gold ring. Rather than a jewel, it was set with a black stone. Orion squinted trying to make out the engraving on the stone.

A vertical line, inside a circle, inside a triangle.