Even forgot that he was invisible. He strode straight over to the door to examine the eye.

It was not moving. It gazed blindly upward, frozen. The plaque beneath it read:

Dolores Umbridge

Senior Undersecretary to the Minister

Below that a slightly shinier new plaque read:

Head of the Muggle-Born

Registration Commission

Harry looked back at the dozen pamphlet-makers: Though they were intent upon

Their work, he could hardly suppose that they would not notice if the door of an empty

Office opened in front of them. He therefore withdrew from an inner pocket an odd object

With little waving legs and a rubber-bulbed horn for a body. Crouching down beneath the

Cloak, he placed the Decoy Detonator on the ground.

It scuttled away at once through the legs of the witches and wizards in front of

Him. A few moments later, during which Harry waited with his hand upon the doorknob,

There came a loud bang and a great deal of acrid smoke billowed from a corner. The

young witch in the front row shrieked: Pink pages flew everywhere as she and her

Fellows jumped up, looking around for the source of the commotion. Harry turned the

doorknob, stepped into Umbridge’s office, and closed the door behind him.

He felt he had stepped back in time. The room was exactly like Umbridge’s office

at Hogwarts: Lace draperies, doilies and dried flowers covered every surface. The walls

Bore the same ornamental plates, each featuring a highly colored, beribboned kitten,

Gamboling and frisking with sickening cuteness. The desk was covered with a flouncy,

flowered cloth. Behind Mad-eye’s eye, a telescopic attachment enabled Umbridge to spy

On the workers on the other side of the door. Harry took a look through it and saw that

They were all still gathered around the Decoy Detonator. He wrenched the telescope out

Of the door, leaving a hole behind, pulled the magical eyeball out of it, and placed it in his

pocket. The he turned to face the room again, raised his wand, and murmured, “Accio

Locker.”

Nothing happened, but he had not expected it to; no doubt Umbridge knew all

About protective charms and spells. He therefore hurried behind her desk and began

Pulling open all the drawers. He saw quills and notebooks and Spellotape; enchanted

Paper clips that coiled snakelike from their drawer and had be beaten back; a fussy little

Lace box full of spare hair bows and clips; but no sign of a locket.

There was a filing cabinet behind the desk: Harry set to searching it. Like Filch’s

Filing cabinet at Hogwarts, it was full of folders, each labeled with a name. It was not

Until Harry reached the bottommost drawer that he saw something to distract him from

the search: Mr. Weasley’s file.

He pulled it out and opened it.

Arthur Weasley

Blood Status: Pureblood, but with unacceptable pro-Muggle

Leanings. Known member of the Order of the

Phoenix.

Family: Wife (pureblood), seven children, two

youngest at Hogwarts. NB: Youngest son

Currently at home, seriously ill, Ministry

Inspectors have confirmed.

Security Status: TRACKED. All movements are being

Monitored. Strong likelihood Undesirable No.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 575