The Kidnapping

Chapter Three

Taking Counsel

"Wormtail!"

The shout echoed through the abandoned Riddle mansion, and the force behind it shook the old house to its foundation.

Peter Pettigrew hurried into the study, his mind filled with terror and incomprehension. Had he done anything other than stalk about the mansion for the past few weeks and write messages on behalf of his master? What could the Dark Lord be so angry about?

The chair was again facing the window, and Pettigrew was ecstatic that he couldn't see the fear-inspiring gaze of an enraged Voldemort.

But when Voldemort spoke again, his voice was collected, calm.

"Someone has taken the boy," he said, his words sibilant and cold.

"How... how do you know this, master?" Pettigrew asked, confused.

Voldemort chuckled. "It seems that we have a tenuous connection, he and I," he said. "I slipped into a trance and saw, Wormtail. I saw the inside of his home. There were strangers there... and they have taken the boy. This very night. Your wand arm, Wormtail."

Pettigrew flinched and folded up his robe, showing his left forearm, where the Dark Mark sat, ensconced and comfortable, branded into his skin and his soul. Voldemort turned around and tapped the Dark Mark with his wand. Pettigrew flinched as it burned black, a hot, burning pain searing through his arm.

They waited for a few minutes, and soon the study was full of Death Eaters. They had their masks up, but Pettigrew was quite willing to bet that they were all still groggy and tired: the call of the Dark Mark had almost assuredly woken them all up.

"One more," Voldemort said, looking around at the assembled Death Eaters. A moment later, another figure Apparated into the crowded study. He was not dressed in Death Eater robes, and he looked like he was going to throw up. It was Severus Snape. A low murmer arose among the Death Eaters, some of whom were clearly displeased at his apparent breach of protocol.

"Ah, my loyal Death Eaters," Voldemort spoke, adding a sarcastic twinge to 'loyal'. Pettigrew saw Snape flinch, and he was willing to bet that most, if not all the others were wincing behind their masks - Voldemort had already been quite clear about what he thought of his followers' loyalty. The short pause out of the way, Voldemort went on.

"As you well know, this meeting has come about quite unexpectedly, but events have begun to move quite swiftly, and in a manner that may turn out to our favour."

There was a confused murmur at this. Snape's expression was one of near-shock.

"Unknown forces have captured the Potter boy," Voldemort said, "and he is now removed from his magical protections. We should be able to determine his location using traditional scrying methods, unless, of course, he has some additional defences we are not aware of. Perhaps, Snape, you can enlighten us?" The cold red eyes came to rest upon Snape, who had by then recomposed himself. He licked his lips and swallowed.

"Potter is under the protection of the Fidelius charm," Snape said. "And Albus Dumbledore is his Secret-Keeper. No scrying magic will be able to find him."

Voldemort nodded. "A worthy move of Dumbledore, and not entirely unexpected," he declared. "Nonetheless, we will be able to track him, as his kidnappers will not have such protections themselves. Now, Snape, you seem to have been surprised at my knowledge of the boy's kidnapping. Is there some reason for such doubt in my abilities?"

The question sounded innocent enough, and Voldemort's tone of voice was almost casual, but Pettigrew knew that the slightest misstep on Snape's part would be very bad indeed.

Snape took a deep breath. "My Lord," he said, bowing, "I cannot hope to know the full extent of your powers, but I personally saw the attack myself, only ten minutes ago. I did not expect that even you, mighty as you are, would know of it so quickly. I accompanied Dumbledore to the boy's home, and he had commanded me to return to Hogwarts to alert the other staff while he interrogated the boy's Muggle guardians. I had only just entered the castle grounds when I felt your summons. I felt I did not have enough time to go to my quarters, don my robes, and answer the call."

Voldemort said nothing for a moment. He was assessing Snape's answer, Pettigrew thought. He was going over every word, every syllable in his thoughts, testing them for a hint of dishonesty. If he even suspected Snape was lying, then the Cruciatus curse would be the least of the Potions teacher's worries.

"You have shown wisdom in your answer, Severus Snape," Voldemort said at last. Pettigrew could see the slightest hint of relief in Snape's eyes.

"Now, what can you tell us about the kidnappers?" Voldemort asked.

"There was an old wizard, possibly in his sixties, and a young witch, in her late twenties, I believe," Snape said. "And three unusual creatures. I've never encountered their like before. They are formidable, whatever they are. They were heavily resistant to magic.

"We didn't get much more than a glimpse of them. Dumbledore and I arrived on the scene only as they were making their escape. They had captured another Hogwarts student, a Ravenclaw named Cho Chang, and I assume that that they had used her to secure Potter's co-operation. The three creatures advanced upon us, armed with swords, to cover the others, who left in an enchanted Muggle automobile. The three creatures left on horses... they looked like horses, but I don't think horses could stand to be around the creatures. And they moved much too quickly for horses - they were able to keep up with the car."

"I see," Voldemort said. "Very well, Snape, you shall leave now. You will still be expected tomorrow night, however, for your orders."

Snape bowed, his expression carefully neutral, and he Disapparated. Voldemort surveyed the Death Eaters again, his eyes burning with such a furious hunger that they all took a step back in fear.

"Now, we shall track down these kidnappers, and destroy them, and Harry Potter will be delivered into our hands once more."

= = = = =

An hour later, Snape had returned to Number Four Privet drive after stopping in at Hogwarts to find the Dursleys sitting asleep in the sofas and armchairs in their lounge, and Ministry wizards up and down the street. Cornelius Fudge was talking to Dumbledore, spinning his bowler hat around in his hands in anxiety.

"Dumbledore, if this gets out, it could cause a panic!" Fudge was saying, sounding like he was already panicking. "Harry Potter kidnapped? How on Earth will we be able to keep the situation under control?"

Dumbledore fixed Fudge with a steady gaze. "Cornelius," he said calmly, "I have always maintained that the best way to keep the wizarding world from panic is to keep them informed. However, you have not always followed that advice, and I imagine you will not be following it now, either."

Fudge bristled. "Dumbledore, I have always been happy to heed the advice of the department heads and of yourself."

"Not," Dumbledore said calmly, "when the matter turns to Lord Voldemort. I have yet to see any official announcements of his return to power."

"Look, Dumbledore," Fudge said, anger colouring his voice, "we've been over that before. We've yet to have our little discussion about the management of Hogwarts, you know." The hidden warning in his statement was rather clear.

"We may well not have an opportunity to discuss the matter in the near future," Dumbledore replied, as unflappable as ever. "However, as Professor Snape has returned with his Veritaserum, I would ask that you give us leave to use it on the Dursleys so that we may glean more detail from the mystery that confronts us."

"Of course," Fudge said. "Anything to speed the investigation along." Snape repressed a sneer. How typical. Anything to help the Boy Who Lived, even if you think he's losing his mind. Abstractly, Snape knew that his emotional reaction to Harry Potter was irrational and perhaps even the slightest bit immoral. Personally, he didn't let rational thought bother him. His grudge against Potter was one of the few certainties in his life, and he wasn't letting it slip away.

"Severus, please give Mr Vernon Dursley some of the Veritaserum," Dumbledore asked him. Snape took a small vial from his robes and managed to get its contents down Vernon Dursley's corpulent throat. Dumbledore pointed his wand at Vernon Dursley and said "Enervate." Vernon Dursley awoke, his eyes glazed over in the trance produced by that most potent of truth potions. Snape and Fudge crowded close to him.

"Vernon Dursley," Dumbledore began gently, "can you tell us where Harry Potter is right now?"

"No," Vernon said, his voice devoid of any emotion. "He was taken away by some unusual people. My family and I hid in the living room until they left the house, and then I think someone else put us to sleep."

"Can you tell me what happened during the kidnapping?" Dumbledore asked.

"We were sitting down for dinner. I began to feel frightened, but I couldn't understand why. I blamed my nephew. It's usually his fault when strange things happen here.

"Then someone broke into the house. They broke down the front door. I didn't see it happen - I was getting my wife and son safely behind cover, and I hid myself. The boy went to see what was happening.

"Then two people with swords came into the living room, and another one backed the boy up to the counter in the kitchen. Some other people came in: an old man, a young woman, and a girl, probably a teenager."

"Can you tell me what these people looked like?" asked Dumbledore.

"The old man wore an all-black suit. It was very well-cut. Expensive. He had a thick walking stick... no, it was too big to be a walking stick, but I don't know what else to call it. It had an unusual-looking rock on top of it. He had short hair, styled back, and a close-cropped moustache and beard.

"The woman was in a suit as well, but she had a skirt, and she didn't have a tie. The girl was in pyjamas. I didn't see her face too well, they had a sack over it.

"The three men with swords were wearing dusters, and lots of black leather clothing. They had motorcycle helmets on, with the reflective outer surface, so I couldn't see anything of their faces."

Snape fought back a shudder at the thought of the nothingness he had seen when one of the swordsmen had lifted up its visor.

"What did they do once they were in the house?" Dumbledore prompted Vernon Dursley.

"The old man spoke to me for a moment. He was talking in a civil tone. I tried to threaten him, but he told me that no one around would know what was happening. He explained that he was taking my nephew away, but that he hoped to return him unharmed. I didn't understand why he was telling me this.

"He talked to the boy for a bit, and the woman took the burlap sack of the girl's head. He seemed to recognize her. He surrendered to them, and they took him upstairs to pack his belongings before leaving. I heard their car drive off, and I heard what sounded like horse hooves as well, before I fell asleep all of a sudden."

"Thank you, Mr Dursley. We will let you get back to your sleeping," Dumbledore said, and with a wave of his wand, Vernon Dursley slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Now what, Dumbledore?" Fudge asked anxiously. "We didn't learn anything useful at all!"

"We are not finished here yet. Mrs Dursley may be able to tell us something." Snape administered a dose of Veritaserum to Petunia, and Dumbledore awoke her as well.

"Mrs Dursley," he asked her, "can you tell us what happened to your nephew?"

"He was kidnapped by an old man and a woman who visited us yesterday. She claimed she was from the Department of Health."

"Who was she?" Dumbledore asked.

"Her name was Catherine Scott," Mrs Dursley replied. "She had come to ask us about my nephew, said it was a sporadic review of adoption cases. I'd never heard about that sort of thing before."

"Do you think she was really working for the government?"

"I was suspicious before, but I am certain now that she doesn't," Mrs Dursley replied. "In fact, I don't think she's English. She sounded American to me."

"Can you tell me exactly what she looks like?"

"She had dark hair, done up in a ponytail. She had striking blue eyes. A slender figure. Creamy, firm skin, like she took care of herself without being outdoors too much. I noticed my nephew furtively glancing at her legs when she came yesterday."

"Very well, Mrs Dursley, we shall let you go to back to sleep now," Dumbledore said. He waved his wand, and she too returned to her somnolent stupor.

"We now have a name to work with," Dumbledore said, standing to face Fudge. "If you would be so kind as to have someone begin looking for any information on a witch named Catherine Scott."

"How would we know she is a witch?" Fudge asked incredulously.

"We do not know for certain. It is, however, an educated guess," Dumbledore explained. "I do not think there are any Muggles who would willingly become involved this sort of wizarding feud, if there are any aside from parents of Muggle-born wizards and witches who know of such things."

"I suppose," Fudge conceded. "But how did they find out that Harry was living here?"

"They went through the Muggle bureaucracy, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "When they took Harry in, they had to report to their government that they were his legal guardians with his parents dead."

"Then anyone could have found him, after all these years!" Fudge said, astounded.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, but if you hadn't known where Harry was living, would you have thought to use Muggle means to find him? Would a Death Eater think to do so?"

Fudge opened his mouth, but merely gaped at Dumbledore. He recovered and said, mumbling, "I suppose not."

"It has been traditional for us in the wizarding community to ignore the goings-on of the Muggles," Dumbledore said, "but now we have seen that this ignorance can be dangerous: it allowed Harry's kidnappers to cleanly bypass the Fidelius charm.

"Now, I do not think that we will be able to find Harry soon. But his kidnapper told Mr Dursley that he was planning on returning him eventually. Which means he only wants Harry to get something else. The question facing us now is what that something else is. I suspect we will be finding out sooner rather than later."

"A ransom note?" Snape broke into the conversation with this question.

Dumbledore nodded. "Public or private, we should expect one within the next few days." He turned his attention back to Fudge. "If you will excuse me, Cornelius, I must return to Hogwarts. This has been a trying night for all of us, and I will need to refresh myself before returning to the task of determining Harry's whereabouts."

"Yes, yes, of course," Fudge said, his concern about Harry temporarily overriding his current break with Dumbledore.

"Severus?" Dumbledore asked. The two wizards stepped out of the broken-down door into the deepening night, and had soon Disapparated from the scene.

= = = = =

McGonagall was waiting for them at the Entrance Hall, her hands clasped behind her back, pacing nervously.

"Did you learn anything?" she asked as Dumbledore and Snape walked up the stairs to the main doors.

"We have a name," Dumbledore replied. "The Ministry will be investigating. In the meantime, Minerva, would you be so kind as to owl the Weasleys and Miss Granger? As Harry's best friends, they have a right to know about this personally, rather than learning about it from the Daily Prophet or from rumour and hearsay."

"Yes, of course, Albus," McGonagall replied.

"Wouldn't it be better to wait a few days before sending any letters to those two?" Snape asked. "They'll be sure to cause trouble if they decide to get into the middle of things - and you know they will."

"You are, of course, talking about the same Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger who helped Harry reach the Philosopher's Stone?" Dumbledore asked, a twinkle in his eye. "The same Mr Weasley who braved the Chamber of Secrets with his friend, and the same Miss Granger who assisted Harry in enabling the escape of Sirius Black from the clutches of the Dementors?"

This was a safe thing to say, as Dumbledore had briefed McGonagall in on Black's innocence the very day after the end of term. Snape had only recently been filled in on the details of the escape, though he hadn't taken it quite so well.

"I don't doubt their nerve, or Miss Granger's intelligence," Snape said, his voice going slightly icy, "but I do not think that this is the sort of business that we should be asking teenagers to willingly get involved in."

"Oh, I quite agree," said Dumbledore, smiling. "We shall, of course, strictly forbid them from trying to help. They will only be all the more likely to attempt to intervene."

"Severus, you must rest yourself," he went on. "You have a rather important meeting in just over twenty-four hours. I will be writing to Remus Lupin and setting him and his friend on the trail. The Ministry is stretched too thin right now to do much more than look into things: it would be better for us to have an independent effort at work, with people who are not bound by Ministry restrictions."

"And then we wait for a ransom note?" This question was from Snape.

Dumbledore nodded sadly, some of the sparkle leaving his eyes. "Yes, then we wait."