Watching the reaction of the boy, he realised the old man had obviously questioned him then obliviated him of the last minute or two before releasing him again.
As the boy hurried to board a carriage and was therefore safe, Moody moved to follow Dumbledore.
Of course, everyone used the single gate through the white wooden picket fence. However, it was no hassle to approach the platform from where the trees encroached over the backside of the platform and simply hop over the four foot high fence there. That's what he did.
Peeking around the corner of the station house, he was just in time to see the old man jump onto the back carriage and start to search it.
Pulling back into concealment behind the building he chuckled to himself and went back to where he was first watching the old man and the gate.
Once he was sure the last of the students had boarded the last carriage, and it was through the gates and moving at a fair clip to the castle, he apparated away.
He had a report to give to the Bones lass.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Over at the Granger residence, Harry was monitoring the time with a Tempus charm. His last was about a minute after the previous one.
Wendell was watching him with amusement and finally asked, "Isn't there a finite amount of magic you can cast before you run out?"
Harry gave him a sheepish grin back and replied, "There is. But, I could probably cast about a thousand Tempus charms before I'd reach the point of magical exhaustion. Different charms and the like use different amounts of magic. The Tempus charm uses about the lower end of average.
As Wendell gave a nod and returned to quietly reading a medical journal, Hermione softly asked, "Where do you think they'd be about now."
"From previous experience, they'd be riding the carriages from the platform to the castle about now," he replied. "I'll alert the aurors to get ready. By my guess work, Dumbledore should be turning up here within the next few minutes."
He rose and headed for the lower ground floor.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As Weasley entered the Great Hall, he was about to head for his 'normal' spot when he realised Harry and Hermione wouldn't be there. Instead, he turned to go sit with Finnegan and Thomas. He needed to find out why they left him at the station.
As he spotted them and walked over, he was about to ask them just that when Thomas asked, "What happened to you? One moment you're walking off the platform with us and the next you just disappeared."
Surprised, he sat next to them and replied, "I don't know! I remember walking off the platform with you, then I'm standing there on my own! I though you'd hit me with a confusion charm, or something; and left me standing there while you all took off!"
"Nope!" replied Finnegan. "Sounds like a mean prank, though." He then looked towards the twins and asked, "Think your brothers might have done it?"
Ron immediately glared in his brothers' direction before he turned back and mumbled, "They might have. But, it's not the sort of thing they'd normally do. They're all about being 'flashy' and 'noisy'."
"True," said Thomas, casting his own look at the twins.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After spending over fifteen minutes quickly searching the train from one end to the other, with no sign of the Potter boy, Dumbledore stood on the platform for a few minutes wondering what could have happened.
'Either the boy turned up at the castle by portkey or floo; or he's not gone there,' he thought. 'That means, he's likely still at the Grangers.
'Even if he isn't, the aurors won't be there and I can compulse the Grangers into doing my bidding.'
With a decision reached, Dumbledore transfigured his robes into the height of 90s muggle fashion - for the early 1890s. A three-piece muggle business suit with matching low profile top hat and shoes. The gold chain leading to his pocket watch was a nice touch. However, even then, they never wore violet-purple with indigo pinstripe.
Then he apparated away to Wimbledon
Learning from his previous error, this time he chose not to attempt to apparate directly onto the property. He changed his apparation point to the front lawn of the property next door. And appeared there with a light crack.
A quick look around for any muggles that might have seen him - he didn't see any - and he stepped through the neighbours' front gate onto the footpath, before walking closer to the boundary fence of the Grangers'.
He stopped just shy of the corner of the property, took another quick look around and drew his wand. Then he silently began to cast detection charms ahead of himself.
It took him only moments to determine where the ward line was. But was surprised when he discovered the ward was an unusual shape. It was almost four sided with rounded corners.
He paused. 'Strange,' he thought. And then began to cast more detection charms.
What he didn't know was there was a very faint but telling ward buried within and between the powerful anti-portkey and anti-apparation jinx wards he'd detected. The glow he saw from the second and third masked the first.
That ward detected when the ward set was being analysed. And a quiet alarm went off within the servants' quarters on the lower ground floor of the residence.
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