As they walked into the hallway leading to the back-room, that person quickly cast a Disillusionment charm on themselves and a Sound-masking charm on their feet before rising and hurrying after them.
He arrived there to find the Peverell Lord alone. Clearly the girl, who he realised was the Lovegood chit, had already left.
Standing in the hallway and out of sight in case Peverell was able to see through Disillusionment charms, he carefully listened.
He was rewarded when, only a couple moments later, he heard Peverell activate the floo and call out 'The Rookery'.
He gave it only a couple of seconds before peeking into the room and finding it empty.
He quickly hurried back to his seat, dropped his charms and waited only a few moments before rising again and hurrying out of the pub. Then he only went far enough to be outside the permanent anti-apparation jinx before he apparated away.
Harry was surprised to learn that the Lovegood private cemetery was located on the Lovegood property back within a grove of trees. More surprising was how far back from the house it was.
"Just how big is your property, Luna?" he asked, as they walked from the house to the grove; a house that was oddly shaped like a giant rook piece from chess.
"Quite large," she replied. "It's quite a ways from boundary to boundary."
She stopped and pointed off to the north east and said, "Over that rise is the Weasley's property. They're actually our next door neighbours."
"How far to their house?" he asked. "About a mile," she shrugged.
"That's... quite a fair bit of land," he said. "And how close is your house to the boundaries?"
"The one between the Burrow and us is about three quarters of a mile from here. The one out the front is about a quarter mile. The one out the back, which is the direction we're heading, is about two miles. And the one to our left is about a mile and a half," she replied. "Of the four corners, our house is closest to the south-eastern one."
"The wards must be huge!" he said.
"Well, the wards are in three layers," she explained. "There's a muggle notice-me-not over the entire property. Then, there's a set of wards that surround just the yard around the house. And the final set is on the house, itself. I can proudly say I was a major contributor to the middle and inner-most layer of wards." "Oh! And there's also a set of wards on the Lovegood family plot; which is where, of course, we're heading now."
As she spoke and they continued to walk, Harry nodded along.
Riddle was standing at a table on the floor before his throne that contained maps, lists of strategies and the like, while talking to two of his Inner Circle; when a Death Eater hurried in and threw himself onto his knees on the floor before him.
"Master!" gasped the wizard. "I bring news!"
Riddle frowned down at him and said, "Unless it's news concerning the Peverell lord, I'm not currently interested."
"That's just it, Master; it is!" From where he was turning away, Riddle snapped back to stare at the kneeling wizard and growled, "Tell me!"
The Death Eater quickly related what he had seen at The Griffon's Claw in Godric's Hollow, together with the floo address Peverell had called before stepping into the flames.
"The Rookery?" Riddle demanded for clarification.
"Yes, Master," the Death Eater was quick to reply.
"The Rookery is the home of the blood traitor Lovegoods," offered Malfoy. Turning to the Death Eater, he said, "Describe the young woman who was with Peverell."
Once he did, Malfoy turned to Riddle and said, "That sounds like the Lovegood bint, alright, My Lord." Frowning in thought, Riddle was a moment looking down at the Death Eater who'd reported before he said, "You have done very well. You will be rewarded. Go back to whatever it was you were doing before you spotted Peverell and... Lovegood."
The kneeling Death Eater was quick to nod, rise and hurry from the room.
Turning back to one of the other Death Eaters present, Riddle said, "Summon the Circle."
As the indicated Death Eater gave a short bow and hurried from the room, Riddle then turned back to Malfoy. "I want you and... take two of the juniors and go 'knock' on the wards of this... Rookery.
"Make sure both know no harm is to befall Peverell. Also, since he is clearly with the Lovegood chit at the moment, make sure no harm befalls her, either. Even if he first refuses, no harm is to befall either of them. If harm befalls either, severe punishment awaits you and them both."
Turning back to the table, Riddle quickly wrote a short sentence on a slip of parchment and handed it to the blonde ponce.
"The Secret," he said. "Make sure he reads it before you bring him."
Then he picked up the quill he'd been using and cast the portkey charm on it. "Portus!"
After it finished glowing blue he handed it to Malfoy and said, "That will bring him, you and the other two to the entrance hall. The activation is a tap of your wand to it with your magical signature."
After first accepting the slip of parchment, then the quill portkey, Malfoy gave a bow and said, "As you command, My Lord." Then spun and quickly hurried from the room. Harry and Luna were just in the process of heading back to her house after visiting her mother's grave, she'd promised him a tour, when she suddenly stopped and looked off into the distance. Harry immediately recognised it as something of her Seer ability kicking in.
Suddenly she frowned and said, "Harry, we have to hurry back to the house. I'll explain everything when we get there." Then she suddenly took off at a run.
Harry was well past fit enough to run to both catch her and keep up with her. However, while he could both run and ask questions at the same time, he knew Luna's fitness wasn't up to his. So, he held his tongue in order to urge her on and just advised her on how to run quickly without exhausting herself in the process.
.
.
.
👓☕️Consider supporting me and enhance your reading experience with the ready-to-read PDFs I have on my Ko-fi.☕️👓
🎯https://ko-fi.com/cmrowling🎯
