The town woke early, like it did every day. Small towns needed a head start if they were going to have any chance in the world. The rows of cars in the parking lot outside the factory were already covered with snow. Out on the road, the commuters set off for bigger towns beyond the forest. Their curses were the kind toy only thought of uttering if you were drunk, dying, or sitting in a far-too-cold Muggle car far too early in the morning.
Bergheim wasn't close to anything. Even on a map, the place looked unnatural. As if a nature and man were having a tug-of-war for space. Even on a map, the town looks as if a drunken giant was trying to piss his name in the snow, as Tam might say.
Tam was watching carefully from the edge of the forest, making sure no Muggles spotted them. Miranda stood beside him. He acted the fool sometimes, but he took his duties seriously.
Almost seven months and two dozen people or locations in different countries later, the Court had gotten to the last option on their list.
"This," Tam had said, "Has to be winter's own frozen backside. And we're crawling right through it."
Norway.
Miranda shivered to her very core. She wondered how some people could survive in a climate that wild animals can barely endure. She pulled her tracksuit jacket over her chin.
This had once been a mix between a hospital and an orphanage for witched and wizards. It had relocated almost six years ago, seeing that there was a great number of Muggles who had moved into this town, and it was getting harder for witched and wizards to get in unseen. The cold might have helped in making the decision to leave. All clues they could hope for would have to be teased out from the documents found inside. If any...
The building was low and squat, with two floors. The shutters were all drawn, and were so old, a good sneeze might have knocked them off. She did not like this place and could see Tam didn't either.
They hadn't found anything this far. It was the first time this had happened. Even tracking down the Dark Lord himself had been easier. Yet this kid eluded them.
That was all right, maybe the kid was just... a normal child, born of Muggle parents in Merlin knows what orphanage, who'd then ran away.
Her gut told him that there was something wrong with that reasoning, but she had trouble producing it logically.
"Ready?"
"Yeah..."
They apparated in, none of the city dwellers spotting them.
Tam got out a bottle of blue dust. Mirror Dust. He poured it in his hand and blew it away. Mirror Dust, compared to Hunger Dust, only revealed sources of magic instead of devouring them. And as Hunger Dust consumed enough magic, it would turn progressively blue, transforming finally into Mirror Dust. Tam had explained this, though he never wanted to reveal where he bought his supply from.
The Mirror Dust mostly floated aimlessly in the air, casting blue lights and shadows on the walls. It formed little tendrils around Miranda's ribs and hand and neck - she'd healed some wounds there a few days ago. Stupid Hungarian bar goers! Of course, it wasn't her that provoked it. Was it?
Tam studied his art. The dust seemed to curl away from him as he moved, letting him pass. Miranda walked straight into it and hat to swat it away from her face.
"Yeah," Tam said softly, "there's no traces of magic here. It makes me feel like there are no traces of life in the past fifty years here."
They got to work.
