Gregorovitch the wandmaker, and how long he could hope to remain hidden while

Voldemort sought him so determinedly.

Dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste.

“You look terrible,” was Ron’s greeting as he entered the room to wake Harry.

“Not for long,” said Harry, yawning.

They found Hermione downstairs in the kitchen. She was being served coffee and

Hot rolls by Kreacher and wearing the slightly manic expression that Harry associated

With exam review.

“Robes,” she said under her breath, acknowledging their presence with a nervous

nod and continuing to poke around in her beaded bag, “Polyjuice Potion … Invisibiliity

Cloak … Decoy Detonators … You should each take a couple just in case … Puking

Pastilles, Nosebleed Norgat, Extendable Ears …”

They gulped down their breakfast, then set off upstairs, Kreacher bowing them

Out and promising to have a steak-and-kidney pie ready for them when they returned.

“Bless him,” said Ron fondly, “and when you think I used to fantasize about

cutting off his head and sticking it on the wall.”

They made their way onto the front step with immense caution. They could see a

Couple of puffy-eyed Death Eaters watching the house from across the misty square.

Hermione Disapparated with Ron first, then came back for Harry.

After the usual brief spell of darkness and near suffocation, Harry found himself

In the tiny alleyway where the first phase of their plan was scheduled to take place. It was

As yet deserted, except for a couple of large bins; the first Ministry workers did not

usually appear here until at least eight o’clock.

“Right then,” said Hermione, checking her watch. “she ought to be here in about

five minutes. When I’ve Stunned her –“

“Hermione, we know,” said Ron sternly. “And I thought we were supposed to

open the door before she got here?”

Hermione squealed.

“I nearly forgot! Stand back –“

She pointed her wand at the padlocked and heavily graffitied fire door beside

Them, which burst open with a crash. The dark corridor behind it led, as they knew from

Their careful scouting trips, into an empty theater. Hermione pulled the door back toward

Her, to make it look as thought it was still closed.

“And now,” she said, turning, back to face the other two in the alleyway, “we put

on the Cloak again –“

“—and we wait,” Ron finished, throwing it over Hermione’s head like a blanket

Over a birdcage and rolling his eyes at Harry.

Little more than a minute later, there was a tiny pop and a little Ministry witch

With flyaway gray hair Apparated feet from them, blinking a little in the sudden

brightness: the sun had just come out from behind a cloud. She barely had time to enjoy

the unexpected warmth, however, before Hermione’s silent Stunning Spell hit her in the

Chest and she toppled over.

“Nicely done, Hermione,” said Ron, emerging behind a bin beside the theater

Door as Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak. Together they carried the little witch into

the dark passageway that led backstage. Hermione plucked a few hairs from the witch’s

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 721