The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Dark Power

They appeared in the middle of a dense wood of evergreens, perhaps the Black Forest in Germany. Sarah wondered how many random spots in the countryside Jacob had memorized for hiding places. 

Jacob set to work straight away, securing the site and pitching the tents, but Sarah knew he was attempting to deflect questions about what had just happened in the cave. She shared this habit with him; she recalled a sudden interest in tidying her room whenever Rowan asked her about homework she hadn't finished, or her parents wanted to know what she'd been up to over the school year. 

"Okay," said Talbott, sitting down at the wooden table as soon as Jacob conjured it. "What witch or wizard could possibly a) know You-Know-Who has horcruxes, b) know where they are hidden, and c) are powerful enough to get passed crazy obstacles and take them?"

"Dumbledore," said Sarah at once. 

Talbott nodded. "It'd have to be. But did Dumbledore get around to destroying them all before...before he died?"

"I'm sorry, but are we just going to ignore the fact that these people were just controlling the dead?" exclaimed Tulip. She gestured to Merula and Elena. 

"And if we hadn't, you'd all be under the lake with them," said Merula. "You're welcome."

Tulip crossed her arms. "Dark Magic is still Dark magic." She looked to her friends for support. "Surely, you agree with me? We can't trust them! We should be on our merry way right now, or we should tie them up and turn them into the Order."

Merula pulled out her wand and Elena followed suit. 

"I'd like to see you try," she hissed.

Sarah stepped in between Merula  and Tulip, who had her wand raised as well. 

"Let's all calm down," she said. 

"Sarah, you hate the Dark Arts!" said Tulip. "You can't be defending them!"

Before Sarah could respond, Merula scoffed. 

"The Dark Arts," she mocked. "You lot use them too. All those pathetic hexes and curses you use are Dark Magic. Just because we use spells more powerful than you'll ever be capable of, it doesn't make us evil."

"No," said Tulip. "What makes you evil is that mark on your arm."

"Protego!" 

Sarah just managed to place a shield charm in front of Tulip before Merula's spell hit her. 

"Stop it!" she shouted, grabbing hold of Tulip's arm to prevent her from retaliating. "We'll never get anywhere acting like this." 

Sarah began dragging Tulip toward their tent.

"Keep that ugly crow of yours silent, Spellman, or I'll crush its beak."

Merula never knew when to quit. Sarah practically had to tackle Tulip to get her to inside the tent, ignoring her fluent string of swearing. 

Talbott and Diego followed them inside, helping to block the exit so Tulip couldn't rage on Merula. 

"Why are we still traveling with a pack of Death Eaters, anyway?" she panted, her face as red as her hair. 

"We need to find out more about these horcruxes, and Jacob is the only one who knows anything about them," said Talbott. 

"If they even exist," said Tulip. "I've yet to see any evidence!"

"I don't see what they've got to gain by lying to us," said Sarah. She didn't want to trust the others, but she had a gut feeling that horcruxes were real. "If they were going to betray us, why wait until now? Why lead us all over the countryside instead of just killing us or taking us to You-Know-Who?"