Kapitel 37: Preparation
Harry sat in a meeting with the Norwegian Head of Magical Law enforcement. Lagasete, the man that was Harry's Norwegian counterpart, had a title Harry couldn't pronounce. Luckily, most of the Norwegians spoke good English, so communication had not been an issue so far. Harry had explained the situation as well as he could, and while it was clear that the Norwegians were not happy that the results of the British security disaster were now heading their way, they were all in agreement that the best course of action would be to intercept the Death Eaters when they were landing and apprehend them the moment they came to shore. The problem was how to find out where that would be. There was a palpable nervous energy in the room. Harry suspected that things like this didn't happen very often in the peaceful land of Norway. It didn't happen often in Britain either, but most of the people in his department still remembered the days when Voldemort was at large. These people didn't have that experience.
"Most likely," Lagasete said, "they will want to land on a desolate area of the coast. With our multitude of fjords and small islands, there are many of those. But if we want to avoid most of them simply Apparating away, we need to catch them by surprise. There are a few likely places that they may want to gather, traditional areas of Dark Magic practice in Norway. Several are on the coast and most of them are easily reached by boat. From their current course it doesn't look like they intend to go north to Lapland where the Saami people live. That makes sense, since the Saami government is very strict on Dark Magic. The Muggles seem to expect Dark Magic from every Saami person, so they are extra vigilant. A group of Dark Wizards would not be welcome there, and it would hardly go unnoticed, even though that is the most desolate part of the country." Lagasete laid out a map that showed all of the southern Norwegian coast. It was certainly an impressive and rugged country. There were so many fjords and small islands.
"We are here," Lagasete said, pointing to a city near the top of the map. "Trondheim. I suppose the Death Eaters know where the Magical Headquarters in Norway are located?" Harry shrugged. He had no idea how much the Death Eaters knew about Norway. He certainly hadn't known very much before he got here.
"Well, let us assume that they know. They probably want to land away from this general area, to avoid notice. But the further south you go, the more people live there and the less rugged the nature is. My guess would be west of here but north of Bergen. There are a myriad of small fjords and inlets that they can hide in. I'd say, without your Trackers, this would be pretty much an impossible job."
Harry nodded. "Without the Trackers," he replied, "we wouldn't even know they were headed this way. We would be searching all over Britain for them. It would be months before we would realise that they were not there."
"And they don't know that you can track them?" Lagasete asked again. Harry shook his head.
"Do you have an idea on how to explain how we found them? It would be best if they don't know about the Trackers, wouldn't you say?"
"We could have tracked the boat? Or, if they have switched boats, we also placed a Tracker on my niece."
"Ah, your niece. That would be the young woman that is onboard. But she may look like a boy?"
"Yes, she was working there as a guard, to try to figure out how the Death Eaters escaped. It is thanks to her that we now know who placed the guards under the Imperius Curse. The whole prison is in lockdown while we work with Healers to ascertain the damage."
"So, you don't know what condition your niece is in?"
"No. All we know is that she is alive, and with the others on the boat. We don't know if she is under the Imperius Curse or what they are doing to her. She was able to warn us that they had tried to place an Imperius Curse on her, so chances are she is not under the spell. That may also be why she was taken in the first place, to prevent her from raising the alarm. We don't know if the Death Eaters have realised who their captive is either."
"You know, if she starts attacking us, we cannot hold ourselves back."
"I realise that. All I ask is that you do not use deadly spells towards her. Stun her if you must, but please don't kill her."
"I notice you don't ask us to not kill the others."
"I really couldn't care less what you do with the others. Honestly, between you and me, if they are killed in an attack, I would sleep better at night. Don't quote me on that though."
Lagasete smiled. Harry found that he got along well with the Norwegian leader. They had the same way of thinking tactics and priorities, even if he was clearly less experienced. And he had quickly gotten over the nervous feeling of working alongside the famous Harry Potter, which he greatly appreciated.
"What would happen if we arrested her?" Lagasete suddenly asked.
Harry looked up, startled. "Why would you do that? As I said, she was most likely kidnapped, or at least under the Imperius Curse."
"Perhaps. But that would be hard to prove. So, if she attacks us, we will have to take her down. And then arrest her. I can't make an exception for her just because she is the daughter of the British Minister."
Harry didn't like where this conversation was going. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that" was all he said.
"I just need to know that we are on the same page, Mr. Potter. You may be here to rescue her, but my main goal is to prevent the escape of several Dark Wizards into my area."
"I have the same goal. I just don't want my niece to be yet another casualty in this conflict. She has been through enough."
"From what you said, she placed herself in this position. How can you be sure that she didn't help them escape?"
"I know her."
"Do you really? I know the story; it was in the news here as well. You let Malfoy go because she claimed he was her saviour. How well do you really trust him? They married, and now she lets herself be kidnapped again. Is Malfoy on that boat with them?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because he is in St. Mungo's hospital after being hit with such a powerful Memory Charm that he barely even knows who he is anymore. They tried to punish him for betraying them. If Rose hadn't gotten him away from the Death Eaters this time, he would probably have been turned to the Dark side by force. That is why she went to Azkaban. Both Hermione and Rose claimed it was to be sure that the prison was secure, and that Rose needed something else to occupy her thoughts while Scorpius recovered, but she went there for revenge and they both knew it. And if it had been up to me, she would never have been there."
Lagasete was quiet. "I'm sorry" he said eventually. "I didn't know that."
"We've been trying to keep it quiet. Especially what happened to Scorpius."
Before they had time to say anything else, the blips on their screen moved again. After half an hour of watching them, they started to see a trajectory.
"Definitely going for the northwest part of the country," Lagasete mumbled. Another Auror came running. He had several files with likely locations the Death Eaters were headed to. It was mostly guesswork, but it was better than nothing. Harry looked over the reports, mostly looking at the geographical markers. He was out of his depth here. Usually, he knew the terrain just as well as the opponent, but here he was a foreigner. But so are the Death Eaters, Harry thought. How do they know where to go?
"Do you have any intel on any locals that may aid them?" Harry asked Lagasete. "How do they know where to go? Do they have a local contact?"
"We've tried our usual suspects, but so far nothing has come up. But there is unusually little Dark activity at the moment, so there may be something big planned. If so, I do not want your English people mixed up in it. Even if it may lead us to their hiding places."
"So, there is a possibility that this has been planned for a while? This run to Norway?"
"Not for long, but for some weeks, maybe a month or so. Maybe it was one of the goals after they escaped this time? If they had come straight here then, it would have taken you even longer to realise something was wrong."
"Yes, it was a very well executed plan. It was only their own diabolical need for revenge that felled them. Some would say we are lucky that they wanted revenge first, since that means we caught on to their plan and can track them. But I wish that it weren't always my family that ends up as the targets."
Lagasete nodded. They didn't say anything more about the subject. The blips moved ever closer. When they had started moving again, they had been going in an almost straight line. But where? What was their goal? Harry followed their lines on the map. He kept going in a straight line until he hit land. It did indeed seem like the most rugged and inhospitable area of the map. But what did it mean for the Death Eaters? He had checked. None of them had any obvious ties to Norway. No family, no prior visits that they knew of.
"Selja" he whispered to himself. That was the name closest to where his finger ended. It was also one of the places in the files in front of them.
Lagasete frowned. "I hope not. It is a Muggle tourist spot and there is a town on the other side of the fjord. I know it may look like they are heading in that general area, but…"
"What is that island?" Harry asked.
"It is the ruins of an old monastery. One of the oldest in the country. The Muggles talk of miracles, the tale of Saint Sunniva that were saved by God from the pagans, by having the mountain fall down and preserve them. In reality, there has been a wizard hideout there for generations. There are a lot of hidden caves and places to hide on that island, if you know magic. I would hate to have to clear out that area."
"Is anyone living there now?"
"No. The caves are not very cosy. It has mostly been a place to hide. Many wizards hid there during the war."
It would be the perfect place to hide. Lagasete seemed to realise that too. "I'll post scouts on the nearby islands, so that we are able to see them when they come from the sea. Even if they sail with no lights, as seems likely, we have ways of spotting them."
Lagasete quickly started giving orders. Teams of two or three were placed on many islands along the coasts. Places where beacons had been placed in earlier years, to be seen for miles. Many now had Muggle lighthouses on them instead, making for perfect watchpoints. Unfortunately, this took up a lot of manpower, and he had to call in every reserve they had.
"No matter where they land, we need to be ready for them." Lagasete said. Harry only nodded, though he would have done this differently, if he was in charge. Lagasete still seemed to distrust any intel they had provided, and tried to cover the entire coast, instead of focusing on the area where they now saw that the boat was headed. He didn't say anything, as he needed to be able to cooperate with Lagasete and the other Norwegians. Harry was not in charge here, as the Norwegians had made very clear. He had tried to offer helpful tactical suggestions earlier, but Lagasete had put his foot down.
"We will go and check the caves on the island of Selja. You are right, it would be just the place for them to be. There may be a welcoming committee already in place, if that is where they are headed. I want to get to the Dark Wizards before they get into those caves. But we can't rule out other possibilities. We also need to remove any Muggles that are there to prepare for the tourist season. Hopefully, they have not gone there yet."
Harry agreed and offered his assistance. "My team don't have the local knowledge, but we can help with clearing the caves before the Death Eaters arrive."
Lagasete nodded and gestured for them to follow.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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