Bellatrix ignored her. "You are also uniquely situated because you are inside Hogwarts. The Dark Lord spent a lot of time at Hogwarts. Some of the people you know were acquainted with him while he was at Hogwarts. Talk to those people. Try to trace his movements. Search the Chamber of Secrets more thoroughly for secrets. Keep track of everything you learn and report to me."
Rose was frowning. "Do you think there is something like the diary hidden in Hogwarts?"
Bellatrix paused for a moment. "The part of me that is a strategist says no. I am mainly interested in understanding the Dark Lord better."
"This sounds like awfully boring work," Leo said.
"Come see me in the summer, and I will see if I can find you something more exciting," Bellatrix offered. "Meanwhile, you will have to be content with what you can do from inside of Hogwarts."
"What unique characteristic will other objects like the diary possess?" Rose asked, staring at Bellatrix intently.
"Objects in which I am interested will have emotional value to the Dark Lord," Bellatrix explained. "They will also be surrounded with powerful defenses and have highly complex, Dark enchantments on them. If you stumble on one, do not even touch it. Contact me immediately."
"What about Professor Dumbledore?" Ginny asked.
"What about him?" Bellatrix challenged.
"He should be the one to take care of something that dangerous." Ginny opined.
Bellatrix shrugged. "I guess that is your decision, Weasley." Pointedly, she turned her attention back to Rose and Leo. "Focus on finding information about the Dark Lord. Get firsthand accounts. Take note if anybody mentions specific locations for which the Dark Lord may have sentimental feelings. Harry and I will visit those places and search them. If it is summer by then, perhaps we will take you along."
"Fair enough," Leo said. "We'll let you know if we stumble on anything."
"Thank you," Bellatrix said, sticking the blood lollipop in her mouth and crunching down on it. "Now, if you would be so kind as to let me out of our booth, I will be on my way."
Leo obliged her, and soon the trio was alone. Sitting back down, Leo looked at Rose who seemed to be deep in thought. "So… is such an object located inside of Hogwarts?"
"We shall have to see if I can see," Rose said slowly as she munched on a piece of fried fish and stared off into space.
.....
Apparently, Voldemort's words of encouragement had reached Lucius and Draco, for they had departed from the Morinas' hospitality and had "tracked" Pettigrew to another village. In actuality, they had proceeded down a road leading to a village located slightly deeper in the Albanian Forest. Despite the fact that the village boasted a denser magical population than the previous village, the Malfoys were obliged to take residence in the local pub because there were no exceedingly rich families in or near the village and because these villagers were far too removed from the British conflict to have taken sides anyway.
Harry doubted that Lucius and Draco were following a trail, but he still approved of the move. The snakes near Morina Castle and the adjacent village had not seen any rats that possibly could be Pettigrew. Detection wards and visual observation of the surrounding area, town, and magical families had also failed to turn up any sign of Pettigrew. If he was in Albania, he was in some other village-possibly even this one, or nearby.
The fact that Lucius and Draco were staying in the local pub did complicate things a little bit, however. It meant that their rooms were just down the hall from Harry's room and their breakfast table was adjacent to Harry's breakfast table.
Sipping a cup of tea, Harry eyed Lucius and Draco from over the top of an Albania newspaper Harry was diligently pretending to read, though he supposed he could get away without the ruse. After all, Draco hardly paid attention to anyone else in the room, and Lucius was preoccupied with a list of magical families in the area.
"I think we shall start with the families further out and work our way in," Lucius told Draco. "Unless we detect immediately that they are kindred spirits, we shall merely satisfy ourselves with a few questions."
"What's the point?" Draco asked. "We're never going to find him."
"He cannot stay hidden for long," Lucius said smoothly. "Besides, we must be able to demonstrate that we have made our best efforts."
Harry decided that he was sick of the newspaper and promptly folded it up. Taking a last sip of his tea, Harry stood up and departed from the dining room, leaving a few extra knuts as a tip for whoever cleaned the table. With a little bit of preparation, he would be able to tail the Malfoys closely while simultaneously setting detection wards and interviewing the local snakes.
.....
"This way, ma'am," the receptionist directed, as she stood from her desk and drew a wand. Amelia Bones followed the receptionist through a door and into a circular room. The receptionist motioned with her wand and the room began to spin and descend to another floor. Eventually, the spinning stopped, and the receptionist guided Amelia through another door where they found a guard wearing battle robes on which the insignia of the Department of Mysteries was emblazoned.
"Auror Captain Bones is here to see Mr. Foxe," the receptionist told the guard before stepping back into the spinning room and shutting the door.
The guard did not say anything, but proceeded to lead Amelia through a labyrinth of dark passageways. After at least fifteen minutes of walking, they came to a seven-way intersection. The hall Amelia and the guard had used to get to that point served as one prong of the intersection. The other six prongs were six doors. The guard stepped ahead of Amelia and opened one of the doors after rapping on it smartly. He gestured for Amelia to step in.
Amelia did so and found herself in a low-ceilinged room with plain walls. Fireplaces flanked the room from the left and right, and bookshelves lined the far side of the room behind a table that was doing duty as a desk. Edward Foxe sat behind the desk in a high-backed chair made from mahogany and padded with black leather.
"Captain Bones," Foxe said, his voice belying a sense of power and agility that clashed somewhat with his aged features and white hair.