Order of the Hidden Dragon

Over the next week, Sophia and Albus met several times. They didn't always go out to eat, if their lunch breaks overlapped, they would meet in the cafeteria instead. She used some of her newfound fortune to purchase two cell phones, and taught Albus and Mary how to send text messages. That way it was easier for them to coordinate meetups. Mary was also busy; St. Mungo's took up more and more of her time as she neared the end of her training.

The continuing search for the Knocker hung over them though. Albus kept her in the loop as much as he could, and it was not going well. Sophia had already started checking the location once a day, and from what she could see, it was still in the same place. But according to the Aurors who had gone to France, there had been no activity inside the warehouse, or at least no magic. There weren't any cameras inside, so they didn't know what was there. Most likely, the Knocker had left the computer behind at last, but the building was secured by several jinxes, so no one had dared to break into it to check without further studying.

Sophia had half expected to get another request to go back to France eventually but was still surprised when Harry Potter came and asked her personally. She had thought he would just get Albus to ask her. She did point out that there wasn't necessarily a difference whether she pinged the location from here or from France. Potter said he understood, and that it was mostly just so she could give a message easier, but she wondered if he really did. Either way, she wanted to see this through to the end, so she accepted.

She didn't realise until she lined up for the Portkey that Rose, Scorpius and Albus were going with her. They had all been called back to France, since they had been part of the original team. Sophia was partly relieved, partly worried. At least she knew someone there, but on the other hand, she was worried that Albus would be disappointed if she failed.

The first day was mostly spent in meetings with the team that was already there, going over what they had already done. One of the French Aurors had sneaked up close enough to get a picture of the inside, and it seemed all the entrances they could see were jinxed or boobytrapped in other ways, as expected, but the image also showed a large cage with someone lying on the floor inside. That was probably Yang. They would have to find an alternative way inside. Someone suggested digging underneath, but the others said that would take ages. Scorpius seemed relieved when that idea was dismissed.

Sophia's job was mainly to monitor the computer, and see if it moved, now that people the man might recognise were here. But it didn't. They all knew he probably set the trap waiting for them to make a move, but none of them were eager to spring the trap.

Sophia felt conflicted every time Albus and Rose went out with the other Auror's to case out the warehouse. She knew they would probably be fine. But she was still worried. Scorpius didn't seem to have any problems with it. His job was mainly to disguise himself and see if the Knocker had any allies in the area. Was there a reason he had chosen to hunker down here? So far, he hadn't found much.

"How do you do it?" she asked Scorpius one day.

"Do what?"

"Just stand by and watch as your wife goes out into potentially dangerous and deadly situations."

Scorpius smiled. "I'm still getting used to it. But I also know that she is more than capable of taking care of herself. And with Albus beside her, I know that it would be a dangerous person indeed who could take them on."

"Someone dangerous like the man we're hunting."

"He got to Yang because Yang worked alone. They are a lot more careful now. Don't worry, they'll be fine."

Sophia knew that, but the sight of Albus going out into danger, especially since she had been the one to point out where to look, made her feel strange. She didn't like the feeling at all. Would it ever go away?

Then the computer started moving around the village. Sophia became even more vital in telling the Aurors where to go. Each time, it disappeared moments before the Ministry got there. Sophia began to wonder if maybe the Knocker wasn't as clueless about how they tracked him as she had hoped. But what was he doing? There was no pattern to follow, no clues left. Just a short moment of visibility before the computer once again went offline or back into the warehouse.

She started coming with the teams, to react the moment it moved. Each time they came closer and closer, but he always disappeared right before they rounded the corner.

Then one day it stopped for over an hour inside a café. Had they finally caught a break? They didn't want to cause panic in the café though. It was full of Muggles on their lunch break. Sophia waited in the nearest alley as the Aurors slowly eased their way into the café, trying to behave normally. She didn't think about how exposed she was, all alone in the alley, she was focused on the blip on her computer. It hadn't moved.

A flash of colour, then she suddenly found herself dangling in the air, unable to move her hands. A man came out of the shadows.

"So, you're the one who's been tracking me? I have to admit, you're not what I expected." Sophia gulped. Had this been how he had got Yang too?

"You've caused me quite an amount of trouble. Having Aurors prowling around is really bad for business. Usually, they give up, but they've been annoyingly persistent this time."

Sophia didn't say anything, though whether that was from nerves or because she didn't want to encourage him, she couldn't say. Did he really think they would give up when he had an Auror hostage? She saw the man summon the computer with a whip of his wand. Would any of the Aurors see that? And why would he risk it, instead of just leaving it there? What useful information did he have on the computer, other than sales? She didn't dare to ask any of the questions spinning around in her head. She just prayed that Albus or Rose would come back soon.

"I figured you had to track me via the computer when they found me so quickly. No one has ever thought about that before. Now I need to find a better way to promote sales online that can't be traced. Maybe you can help me with that?"

As he had spoken, Sophia had been lowered towards the ground, though still unable to move.

"My dearest companion," the man said. "Swooping Evil, the species is called, but that is such a misnomer. To think, this is the second time this year it has been useful to me. Maybe I should give it a reward."

Swooping Evil. She vaguely remembered something about those from Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had one of them, they were quite rare. Didn't they usually suck out people's brains? Though Hagrid had trained his, so it didn't do that. This man had probably done the same.

The man looked at the ground and picked up her laptop as well. She had dropped it when this creature had grabbed her. She still tried to wriggle out of whatever hold it had on her, but it was of no use. Where had her wand gone? Was it still in her pocket?

The moment the man touched the laptop, the thing exploded and sent up a shower of red sparks. Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure if that would actually work.

"A warning. I see. Maybe you're also clever. Well, time to get out of here then." He grabbed the end of whatever it was that held her and lowered her to the ground completely. But before he could do anything, Albus came running. He stopped dead at the sight that met him.

The man, the Knocker, took out a wand and held it to her throat. That was a very movie-like thing to do. Was this guy Muggleborn? A wand wasn't a gun, he didn't need to hold it like that. But with the Swooping Evil still having a firm grip on her arms, there was very little she could do.

"Let her go and I won't hurt you," Albus said. She had never heard his voice sound so dangerous.

"Yeah, like you're just going to let me go." the man jeered back. "Why don't we try another way? You leave and I might consider leaving your friend behind."

"I'm not going to tell you again," Albus said. Sophia didn't even dare to look at him, she was afraid of the disappointment she would see there. Why had she been stupid enough to place herself in this position? How were they to get out of this?

"Yet, you seem reluctant to attack. Might it be because the last time you were in an alley like this, someone ended up dead? Afraid that history will repeat itself, Potter?"

How did the Knocker even know about that? Before Albus could reply, a red spell came from another direction. However, there must have been a protective shield around them, as the spell stopped before reaching them. Several more spells came from all directions. Rose and several other Aurors came from the shadows. All their wands pointed straight at the two of them. Sophia mouthed "sorry" as Rose looked questioningly at her, but there was no time for anything else.

"It seems we've worn out our welcome, dear," the Knocker said with a sneer. "Time to relocate again, it seems. And without your assistance, I doubt they'll find me again so easily."

That was all Sophia heard before it all went black.