Chapter 131: Traces of Dark Wizards

Late autumn brought frost to the castle paths and rattled the stained-glass windows at night. Edward's practice remained disciplined rather than spectacular. His own walnut wand, chosen at Ollivander's and fitted with a phoenix feather, answered his fire with increasing precision. He could sustain a shield, direct narrow flames away from allies, and cast several familiar jinxes without speaking, though moving targets still exposed flaws in his aim. 

Snape watched one of those drills from the edge of the classroom and offered the nearest thing he had to praise. "At least one Black has learned that talent is wasted without control." 

Kreacher had also entrusted him with Regulus's childhood practice wand, old oak with Unicorn hair. It was steady but poorly matched to Edward, so he used it only for controlled exercises where sentiment mattered more than speed. It concealed nothing from Hogwarts and gave him no excuse to cross the limits he had written for the alliance. 

Only a corporeal Patronus remained beyond him. At the top of the tower, Edward faced the cold wind with his own wand and worked through the memories Sirius had helped him choose. 

His mother's letter rested inside his coat, warm from his body rather than from any enchantment. Remembering her could bring silver to the tip of his wand, but grief always threatened to swallow the happiness that the charm required. On the train he had managed a screen of mist only because he found a smaller, living memory and Lupin reinforced it. Here the result remained the same: a thin silver veil, no animal and no borrowed face, trembling in the wind before it thinned away. 

The lack of a shape frustrated him, but the mist now held for several breaths without Lupin's help. Edward stopped before exhaustion soured the memory and wrote down exactly what had improved. His investigation of Peter Pettigrew had made no comparable advance. 

McGonagall had recovered the Marauder's Map from Filch's confiscation archive under Dumbledore's authority. Lupin verified the activation phrase and kept the parchment in a sealed cabinet between scheduled observations. During every supervised check, Peter Pettigrew's name remained beside Ron or within the Gryffindor dormitory. The repetition supported Sirius's account, but it revealed no messages, allies, or escape route. 

Edward did not approach Scabbers again. The rat had already reacted to him on the train, and another invented conversation about magical creatures would be more likely to warn Peter than expose him. Patience felt unproductive because it produced no dramatic scene. That did not make it useless. 

The first Hogsmeade weekend arrived under clear, cold skies. Because Sirius could not sign openly while wanted, the Black estate's appointed solicitor had filed Edward's permission with McGonagall. Dumbledore added written conditions for the approved meeting route. The paperwork was not a private favour from a Headmaster pretending to be a guardian. 

At breakfast, Draco arrived with Crabbe and Goyle and described Honeydukes's newest Chocolate Frogs with the urgency of a military warning. 

"Come with us," he said. "You can spend one day without turning practice into homework." 

"I have an arranged meeting first," Edward replied. "Save me a box of the sourest Acid Pops." 

Draco demanded details. Edward showed him the signed Hogsmeade permission without revealing Sirius or the investigation. Draco accepted official ink more readily than a moral argument and left with a promise to buy the sweets only if Edward paid him back. 

Before joining the village group, Edward reported to Lupin's office for the scheduled map check. Lupin opened the cabinet, recorded the time, and activated the parchment. Peter's label sat beside Ron's at the entrance hall. Neither moved toward an owlery, hidden passage, or outside contact. 

"No change," Lupin said. 

"No visible change," Edward corrected, remembering their evidence rules. 

Lupin gave him a tired smile. "Better." 

They compared the entry against the previous six observations. Peter changed position when Ron attended class, meals, or Quidditch, yet he never crossed a warded exit alone. That pattern was consistent with a pet being carried by its owner and with a fugitive using the owner as cover. It did not distinguish between them. Lupin wrote both explanations beside the times rather than allowing the preferred one to erase its rival. 

Edward asked whether they should warn Ron before the examination. Lupin said the boy deserved an explanation, but timing mattered because Peter could hear every word from a pocket or cage. Dumbledore intended to move Ron to safety moments before adult witnesses approached Scabbers. The delay protected Ron; it was not a plan to exclude him permanently from the truth. 

They sealed the map again. Edward signed the observation log and returned to his dormitory, where he activated the Two-way Mirror. Sirius appeared after the third signal, looking tired but alert. 

"Did the map show movement?" he asked. 

"Peter remains with Ron. No unexplained absence and no contact we could identify." 

Sirius's disappointment matched Edward's, but neither proposed forcing a result. After a moment, Sirius's tone turned grave. 

"I recognized one of the men meeting former Death Eaters in Hogsmeade," Sirius said. "Antonin Dolohov. Several others are expected at the Hog's Head today." 

Edward's disappointment vanished. "Have you told Dumbledore?" 

"Before calling you. He does not want us inside the meeting. I may watch the public entrances in dog form. You remain among the students at the Three Broomsticks and record only what you can see from there." 

The restriction frustrated Edward, but it matched the written plan. "If they leave the village?" 

"We alert Dumbledore and let an adult team decide whether to follow. No heroics." 

A small brass disc arrived by school owl while they spoke. Dumbledore's note said that snapping the disc would summon the nearest member of staff and mark Edward's location on the Headmaster's office map. It was an emergency signal, not permission to pursue. 

They arranged to meet first in the Shrieking Shack, using the passage on the schedule Dumbledore had approved. Edward joined the last group walking toward Hogsmeade, then separated near the Whomping Willow under a Disillusionment Charm. Sirius waited inside the Shack in dog form. 

When he transformed, he indicated the old claw marks along the wall. "This is where Remus spent the full moons we could not make easier. The school built the tunnel to keep everyone safe. We treated it like our private road." 

"Today we treat it like borrowed access," Edward said. 

Sirius accepted the correction. He would circle the Hog's Head and return to the Shack if the gathering dispersed. Edward would stay inside the Three Broomsticks, visible among classmates. They tested the mirrors once, confirmed the brass signal was secured inside Edward's sleeve, and repeated the emergency phrase. 

"No reckless moves," Sirius said. 

"That applies to both of us." 

The black dog left first. Edward waited five minutes, lifted the Disillusionment Charm, and entered the busy village with the other students. The Three Broomsticks glowed with warmth, while the windows of the Hog's Head remained clouded by dirt and age. From a table near the wall, he could see hooded adults enter without needing to approach them. 

The task should have been simple: watch, record, report. Edward kept one hand near the brass disc and reminded himself that restraint was part of the plan, not a failure of courage.