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1926 OCTOBER, DALBY FOREST
'Is Flamboyant Fawley Doing Enough?'
No. Minister for Magic, Hector Fawley was not doing enough against the threat that Grindelwald had created. The vile revolution that Grindelwald led was growing stronger each day with no aurors to stop them in Britain, all because of a self-assured, arrogant Minister. Furthermore, all evidence pointed against his opinion too, how stupid do you have to be to not listen to the facts? Lying to the people will not save them.
With the wind in her hair and the smell of dirt in the air, Ariadne felt oddly free. A curse blasted into the ground next to her, signalling her legs to run faster. Sprinting through the trees, she could hear three others in pursuit of her. Her wand was in her hand and a vial safely in her pocket. There wasn't time to turn around and cast a spell, plus three against one wasn't favouring her wanted outcome, so she kept running, blindly dodging each curse.
She knew exactly where she was leading them as she saw the edge of the cliff coming into view. With her body screaming at her, she ran faster. The moonlight was peaking through the trees as Ariadne jumped. Feet first, she landed in a lake. Cold water consumed her senses as goosebumps started dotting her skin. Three figures stood at the top of the cliff, staring down at the waters, unable to find the brunette witch.
Holding her breath, she swam towards the cliff, hoping to hide from their view. The murky waters provided little visibility. Gasping for air as she resurfaced, Ariadne crawled along the rocks. In front of her stood a cave, one that contained the hidden portkey that Dumbledore had arranged for her. The red umbrella began to shake violently as Ariadne glanced at it. Reaching out for the last ounce of strength, Ariadne pushed herself upwards. The umbrella sat near the entrance, darkness covering most of the interior.
Giant spider legs suddenly creeped out of the darkness as Ariadne stared up at it in horror. Thick black hair covered its legs as all eight eyes stared back at Ariadne. With a sharp hiss, Ariadne backed away.
"Accio," she muttered as the umbrella flew straight towards her. Just as the spider lunged at her, she was transported away.
"You look well," Dumbledore mused, glancing at Ariadne who landed roughly onto a wooden chair. On the other side of England, Dumbledore stood in front of Ariadne, in a small inn. The place was muggled owned as the pair wanted to not draw attention to themselves. There was a small bed in the corner, along with a bedside table.
With her chest heaving up and down, adrenaline still pumping within her, she chucked him a grin, "One vial of powdered Graphorn horn, for you," she unbuttoned her wet pocket and pulled out a small glass tube. It was then that she realised how weary her legs were.
"Thank you. I hope you didn't have trouble collecting it," he glanced down at her soaking clothes, almost raising an eyebrow at her disordered attire. She lazily pointed her wand at herself before drying her clothes.
"There were three wizards chasing me," she informed, her words slow as she tried to make sense of her jumbled mind.
"Grindelwald's?" He asked nonchalantly, examining the powder in the vial.
"I'm not too sure. Although who else would it be?"
"I'll look into it," he stroked his beard, "Get some rest. You have this place until tomorrow at noon," he smiled politely at her and when he was out of the room, Ariadne flopped onto the bed, too tired to do anything else.
[615 words]
a/n
a short and sweet chapter to start the second act. also its canon now, dumbledore sent newt to help the graphorn that ariadne had encountered and now they live in his suitcase :)
kjlyds