Alastor Moody's arrival pre-empted Harry's retort. "I see you brought Miss Black with you," the auror observed by way of greeting.
"Yeah," Harry replied. "I know you probably had your heart set on that place we ate at last time, but Bella seems to feel that we should go somewhere more fancy." Conspiratorially, he whispered, "She thought it was a date."
Moody smiled crookedly, "Lead the way."
They were soon seated at a table in a somewhat posh London restaurant. Moody's attire was drawing the negative attention of many patrons while Bellatrix's attire was drawing the notice of every male. Oblivious, she was sulkily examining the menu as Moody did his best to pry information from Harry.
"What is it that prompted you to schedule our meeting?" Moody asked, sipping a glass of water. "I don't suppose you've discovered anything about the dark lord's past."
"I have, actually," Harry said. "His name was Tom Riddle."
"Tom Riddle, eh?" Moody said. "I don't recall Riddle being a magical family name. I thought we'd be dealing with a pureblood."
"Yes, one of the ironies associated with him," Harry smiled. "I think he's a half-blood, but I'll have to get back to you on that. I'll be researching his early life. In fact, I already have a couple of leads."
Harry didn't precisely. He was still waiting for responses from the orphanages. A couple had replied quickly and asserted they knew nothing of Tom Riddle, but the majority had not yet responded. "It might be helpful if you dug around in his more recent past," Harry said. "You might have access to records of what he's done once he arrived at Hogwarts, or left."
"Of course," Moody said, thinking that Dumbledore was sure to know everything there was to know of any student who passed through Hogwarts. The Ministry would also have useful records.
The server arrived and took their orders. Prompted by Harry's prior stipulation that he'd cover the bill, Moody ordered a generous portion for himself. Bellatrix, prompted by other reasons, did likewise. Harry followed suit, but felt deep down that just because one had money didn't mean that one had to spend it extravagantly.
The conversation then continued while they waited for the server to return with their meals. "There's another reason that I wanted to meet with you," Harry announced.
"Really?" Moody asked.
"How would you like the opportunity to capture some of these dark lord followers and take them in for questioning? I reckon you could learn quite a bit from them if you could find cause to administer a truth serum."
"Obviously, I'd love the opportunity," Moody said, "but they would have to be caught during or after their committing a crime. At this point, mere allegiance to this dark lord is not sufficient justification for arresting them."
"What?" Bellatrix exclaimed. "Killing my father isn't sufficient for their arrest?"
Moody grunted. "I'm not saying that the murder of your father isn't sufficient cause for arrest, but with the exception of the dark lord himself and Lucius Malfoy, we don't know the identity of anyone else who was present that night."
"Pussyfooters," Bellatrix muttered.
"What was it that you were thinking of, Mr. Ashworth?" Moody said, attempting to return focus to the conversation.
Harry withdrew the card given to him by Rabastan Lestrange from his pocket and showed it to Moody long enough for the auror to see his picture on it. He then pocketed the card. "The dark lord's followers are looking to capture me. They've been distributing these cards to some of the more seedy sorts in the magical world. If I'm spotted, they're to activate the card. The card will summon some of the dark lord's followers. They will then attempt to capture me."
"And you got your hands on one of the cards. Well done, Mr. Ashworth," Moody said.
"My thought is that we could find a nice, secluded place for an ambush. Someone activates the card while I'm walking around, clearly vulnerable, all while you and the aurors are hiding. The dark lord's minions show up and you nail them before they even know what happened. You'd then have a handful of wizards and possibly witches who have been caught in the act of assaulting me."
"I like it," Moody observed. "I like it a lot. Clearly, they would only be lackeys. We'd be obligated to investigate who it was that hired them. A little bit of pressure, and they might confess that their intent was to kidnap you. Conspiracy to kidnap is far more serious than just assault."
"You don't need to pressure them into admitting the idea was to kidnap Harry," Bellatrix said. "I think we've already got enough proof on that."
"This is true," Moody said.
Their meals arrived and conversation ceased until the server had finished placing plates on the table and had retreated. "As soon as we're done eating," Harry said, "let's go out and find a place and schedule a time for this little ambush."
....
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