Traveling cloak and they sat down.

“I’d have been here three days ago but I needed to shake off the Death Eater

tailing me,” said Lupin. “So, you came straight here after the wedding?”

“No,” said Harry, “only after we ran into a couple of Death Eaters in a café on

Tottenham Court Road.”

Lupin slopped most of his butterbeer down his front.

“What?”

They explained what had happened; when they had finished, Lupin looked aghast.

“But how did they find you so quickly? It’s impossible to track anyone who

Apparates, unless you grab hold of them as they disappear.”

“And it doesn’t seem likely they were just strolling down Tottenham Court Road

at the time, does it?” said Harry.

“We wondered,” said Hermione tentatively, “whether Harry could still have the

Trace on him?”

“Impossible,” said Lupin. Ron looked smug, and Harry felt hugely relieved.

“Apart from anything else, they’d know for sure Harry was here if he still had the Trace

on him, wouldn’t they? But I can’t see how they could have tracked you to Tottenham

Court Road, that’s worrying, really worrying.”

He looked disturbed, but as far as Harry was concerned, that question could wait.

“Tell us what happened after we left, we haven’t heard a thing since Ron’s dad

told us the family was safe.”

“Well, Kingsley saved us,” said Lupin. “Thanks to his warning most of the

wedding guests were able to Disapparate before they arrived.”

“Were they Death Eaters or Ministry people?” interjected Hermione.

“A mixture; but to all intents and purposes they’re the same thing now,” said

Lupin. “There were about a dozen of them, but they didn’t know you were there, Harry.

Arthur heard a rumor that they tried to torture your whereabouts out of Scrimgeour before

they killed him; if it’s true, he didn’t give you away.”

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione; their expressions reflected the mingled shock

And gratitude he felt. He had never liked Scrimgeour much, but if what Lupin said was

true, the man’s final act had been to try to protect Harry.

“The Death Eaters searched the Burrow from top to bottom,” Lupin went on.

“They found the ghoul, but didn’t want to get too close – and then they interrogated those

Of us who remained for hours. They were trying to get information on you, Harry, but of

Course nobody apart from the Order knew that you had been there.

“At the same time that they were smashing up the wedding, more Death Eaters

were forcing their way into every Order-connected house in the country. No deaths,” he

added quickly, forestalling the question, “but they were rough. They burned down

Dedalus Diggle’s house, but as you know he wasn’t there, and they used the Cruciarus

Curse on Tonks’s family. Again, trying to find out where you went after you visited them.

They’re all right – shaken, obviously, but otherwise okay.”

“The Death Eaters got through all those protective charms?”

Harry asked, remembering how effective these had been on the night he had

crashed in Tonks’s parents’ garden.

“What you’ve got to realize, Harry, is that the Death Eaters have got the full

might of the Ministry on their side now,” said Lupin. “They’ve got the power to perform

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 632