Firenze and Astor devised a plan to recover the spear. Since he was no trained fighter, once recovered, they would return to the forest with the spear and Astor would train under Firenze's tutelage for weeks or months, or however long it would take for Astor to master the correct footwork for the dance of battle. Once this was all agreed, they set out to return to the whomping willow, whose burnt trunk and bark remained a permanent feature in the castle grounds. However, a new feature of the grounds was the large collection of armed guards patrolling the outer walls. They were dressed all in black robes and carried large spears, always pacing the castle in pairs or triplets. It was evident that Ligo's body had been discovered and that they were alert for a repeat visit from the intruder. Firenze had expected this and already had a plan. He would be a distraction while, hopefully, unseen Astor would sneak up to the tree, find where he had buried the spear and recover it before fleeing back into the woods. There was a question about how they would find each other again, but Firenze assured Astor that, as a seasoned hunter, he would have no problem tracking Atsor and finding him again.