A Dance Through Thyme (Harry Potter)

Hoffnung

Hope

“Conrad! You are being too careless!”

Thorfinn Rowle banged his fat fist upon the marble tabletop. A whiskey tumbler jumped up slightly from the impact, threatening to cover the entire surface with the amber liquid it contained.

“I am not being too careless,” countered Conrad, not willing to concede to his elder brother’s point.

Thorfinn brought his own face closer to Conrad’s so that their eyes were level with one another’s. His voice was hushed and menacing.

“Our side may be gaining the upper hand, but even the Dark Lord admits that Dumbledore is not stupid. He will be looking for any signs that we have disrupted anything.”

“Disrupted, eh?” questioned Conrad, picking up on Thorfinn’s choice of words. “We do enjoy causing a bit of disruption, don’t we?”

He laughed rather audibly, however his brother turned his mouth into a frown, furrowing his eyebrows close together.

“This is not something to laugh about. We all enjoy a little ‘purging’ every now and again, but suppose you were caught? What would you be laughing about then? We must wait for the Dark Lord to give us instruction. I suppose that this is all a product of your youth...”

Conrad’s laughter immediately ceased.

“I am of age! Besides, you’re not that much older than I am.”

Thorfinn shook his head, sitting back down in his chair, across from Conrad.

“I am old enough to know better than to leave behind the remains of those filthy muggles. This is no small matter, Conrad. It has been in their newspapers. If our movements are being noticed by those ignorant muggles, then what will our society have to say?”

Conrad could not answer his brother, instead choosing to take a sip of the whiskey that remained in his glass.

“I have been thinking about how I may be able to be of service to the Dark Lord now that I am finished with Hogwarts...”

Conrad’s voice trailed off as he turned his eyes towards Thorfinn, waiting for his reaction.

“You must wait for the Dark Lord’s instructions,” said Thorfinn simply, reiterating the point he made earlier.

Conrad swirled the last of the ice in his glass, staring at the liquid as the colour was diluted further by condensation. It seemed like he would never be able to win against his brother.

“But, just suppose that I came up with a way that I would be useful to him?”

“Then it would be your life on the line, not mine. I am not your decision-maker, Conrad. As you said, you are of age. It is not my responsibility to keep you safe, if you choose to put your own neck on the line.”

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Only a number of days had passed since the Order had met, and Hermione already felt overwhelmed by the workload which Dumbledore had impressed upon her. Although she had given him some ideas regarding the loyalties of certain people in the Wizarding community, she had focused on those which would be good candidates for the Order.

There was very limited mention of those who would do anything to sabotage their good efforts.

Hermione had mentally compiled a list, and was now in the process of transferring her thoughts onto parchment.

A number of names stood out to her immediately: Yaxley, Karkaroff, Barty Crouch Jr., Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange...

However, there were also a few names of people who still had the potential to be convinced otherwise. Hermione had noted two in particular.

Severus Snape had spent his entire school life being taunted and bullied to the point of inhumane cruelty. He was a broken man who was searching for something to redeem himself with. Perhaps his love for his childhood sweetheart, Lily, would be able to salvage what was left of him.

On the other hand there was Regulus Black. He was still a boy, but only just. In just a year he would be finishing school, and would secretly search for Slytherin’s locket.

Hermione wondered how he figured out the horcruxs, and what lead him to being able to find the locket. Even Dumbledore had not been entirely sure about them. However, if he had once attempted to find such an object, with the intention of destroying it, then perhaps not all hope was lost.