AN: This chapter contains GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS of violence, injury, blood, death, decay and all the disgusting things surrounding it, please take caution when you proceed, it also has canon divergence.
This chapter is also quite long, around 14,000 words total so please take your time! <3
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songs I listened to while writing this; Empathy, Crystal Castles. Blind, Korn. Gallowdance, Lebanon Hanover. Hall of Illusions, Insane Clown Posse. Custer, Slipknot. Killin' On Demand, Freddie Dread. Enemy, Imagine Dragons.
They arrived at their destination before dawn, the sun had yet to rise over the horizon to reveal their advancing position in the trees as they rushed through them hurriedly with the hair on the back of their necks standing on end.
Paranoia sat on their shoulders like a fat goblin.
Ron and Ophelia took the lead, given that when it came to this kind of terrain they had the advantage whilst Hermione and Harry (though both skilled in Defence Against the Dark Arts) had yet to be broken into the kind of ambush that snatchers were known for while Ron and Ophelia had not only been on the receiving end of a dozen ambushes and survived they'd also participated in orchestrating and executing a series of them — successfully wiping out the snatchers in an entire region in the midlands with well-timed raids and ambushes — while this area was as new to them they at least had enough experience to know what to look out for and what to expect, even if they were nervous.
Rightfully so, as Ophelia noticed muddy tracks on a worn-in path — this route was regularly used for patrols and one had passed through recently, they'd just missed them thankfully — but it also meant they were close.
Ron flagged the corner of her eye and gestured for her to come closer, Ophelia raised her hand to keep Harry and Hermione from following before she quickly dashed through the open trees towards Ron who was crouched behind a bush.
He pointed to a smaller group of prints, older but not by much, two pairs of feet going in the opposite direction.
"Smaller group, easier to tackle... get some disguises do you reckon?"
Ophelia nodded, "Good idea," she said quietly as she glanced around their horizon through the dimly lit trees. "We should move quick while we have the darkness on our side."
Ron's eyebrows pushed forward as he looked closely at her face, his eyes widened with concern as he reached his sleeve-covered finger to wipe away the blood trailing out of her nose, "That's concerning."
"That's something I'm used to," she insisted, "Come on."
Ron nodded and beckoned Harry and Hermione, the four of them followed the smaller path until eventually, they looked to have found a smaller campsite — Ophelia stepped out with her wits about her as she approached the centre of it, crouching down by a small campfire that had recently been put out judging by the still smouldering embers smoking away at the base — she turned to see a pair of footprints that were going in different directions.
