Harry Potter and the Wizard's Apprentice

NOTE: There's two things I want to mention- one, the part with the twins' joke shop, when you're mentioning all the different types of jokes- I'm fairly certain those all need to be capitalized. I know for sure that ones that have an official title which Harry knows of- like the Skiving Snackboxes and the Ton-Tongue Toffee- definitely nee to be capitalized. I don't know about the others, it's probably left up to your decision.

Second, there were several times when there would be something like, 'he was grim looking,' or 'she was prim looking.' I put hypens between the adjective and the word 'looking,' but I don't know for sure that it's incorrect the other way. I'm sure it's not wrong with the hyphen, but it may be correct the other way as well. I can check up on that later, if I have time.

Chapter Five

Premises and Promises

The next few days went by as a blur for Harry. Mr. Weasley was gone most of the time, and the twins, Bill, Charlie, and Percy alternated between staying at the beach house to help Mrs. Weasley, and going back to their own jobs. Finally, it was the end of their vacation and they were scheduled to go to Diagon Alley the next day, the day before boarding the Hogwarts Express. Mrs. Weasley had originally hesitated in allowing them to go and required much persuasion from her children before she acquiesced.

"I just don't know, Ron. What if something were to happen?" she had said earlier. "Perhaps it would be best if I just picked up your things for you again."

"But Mum, we haven't been to Diagon Alley in ages, and we haven't seen Fred and George's premises, and Harry needs all new robes- you can't buy those for him this time; he needs to be re-measured, and besides, who would watch us while you are gone?" Ron said this all in one breath, then stopped suddenly with a pleading look on his face.

"Oh... all right then. However, you four need to stay together at all times, do you understand? I don't want you going anywhere by yourself."

"That'll make going to the loo interesting, then," Ron retorted.

~*~

That night after supper, Harry wandered around the cottage gathering his things to pack in his trunk, feeling a little sad. He had enjoyed his time at the beach immensely and he had no idea when he would have the chance to return- if he ever had the chance. He piled everything haphazardly into his trunk, wishing he could perform cleaning spells as Tonks' mum apparently could.

After finishing, he joined Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in the living room where they were sitting around the table playing Exploding Snap and drinking hot chocolate brewed in the fireplace cauldron. On closer inspection, however, he realised that Hermione was only pretending to play. Instead, she was concentrating on a list of items on a piece of parchment in her lap.

"What's that, Hermione?" Harry asked as he sat down between her and Ginny.

"Shh, Harry," she said, giving him a warning look and raising her eyebrows towards Mrs. Weasley, who was bustling around in the kitchen. "It's a list of things we need at Diagon Alley tomorrow," she continued in a whisper.

"Why is that a secret?" he whispered back.

As an answer, Hermione shoved it at him and replied, "Animagi."

Harry peered at the parchment and read a long list of items in Hermione's neat handwriting. "We used loads of these ingredients when we made the Polyjuice Potion."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "I know; in some ways it's very similar. But at least we can buy these items and not steal them from Snape's office." She grinned at him.

After a few enjoyable rounds of Exploding Snap, Harry and Ron made their way down the hall for bed. Harry automatically reached for the moonstone necklace, but hesitated before putting it on this time. If I hadn't had it on the night before the Ministry attack, perhaps I could've dreamed something- anything- that might have been an early warning, he thought miserably, remembering the look of horror on Percy's face that night.

"Hey, Ron?" Harry asked suddenly, setting the necklace on the nightstand.

"Mmph?" Ron replied, his face buried in his pillow.

"So, have your parents forgiven Percy for all... you know."

"Well..." Ron began, propping up on one elbow to face Harry. "They took a long walk with him on the beach the day after the attack. He's been right humble since then. I don't know what Dad said to him... but, well... I'm glad it wasn't me."

"Have you forgiven him, then?"

There was a long pause, and Harry almost thought Ron had fallen asleep, until he heard him say, "It's not exactly the right time to hold a grudge, is it, mate?"

It wasn't until Harry was practically asleep that he realised Ron had never really answered his question.

~*~

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Harry was back in Professor Dumbledore's office. He reached down, picked up a whirling silver gadget, and threw it against the wall. Bang.

He turned around to look for something else, and found himself standing at the bar in the Three Broomsticks. He could see his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Madame Rosmerta stood in front of him, smiling. "Here you go, Harry, take this," she said, handing him a tall glass. "We won't be needing it anymore." He took the glass from her, and threw it with all of his might at his reflection. Bang.

Harry was standing in the Slytherin common room. All of the fires were out, and only cold ashes remained in the hearth. "You won't find what you're looking for here, Potter," came a cold, drawling voice behind him. Harry spun around to face Draco Malfoy, who was holding his wand by his side. "I've got a secret, Potter," Draco said, and raised his wand to point at Harry's chest. Bang.

Harry sat straight up in bed, drenched in sweat, his pajamas clinging to him damply.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"You two had better get up or we're going to be late, you know! I can't stand out here knocking all morning! Ron! Wake up and open this door!" Percy's peevish voice sounded from outside Harry and Ron's room. Harry rolled over and glanced at Ron, who was still sound asleep and snoring loudly. Groaning, Harry crawled out of bed and went to open the door to face a very irritated-looking Percy.

"Why is this door locked? I've been knocking on your door ten minutes already!"

"I dunno," Harry said truthfully. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. "What time is it?"

"It's already 5:15 in the morning. You two are going to have to hurry if we're going to leave on time. I have a very busy day today and can't afford to be late. Mum says to make sure your trunk is packed and bring it out with you; we won't be coming back here after going to Diagon Alley." With that, Percy turned on his heel and walked stiffly back down the hall. Harry noted wryly that Percy's change of heart did not seem to extend to bossing his youngest brother.

"Oi! Ron, wake up!" Harry said, tossing his pillow at Ron's head.

"Whatizzit? Whasgoinon?" Ron mumbled sleepily.

"Time to get up. Why'd you lock the door last night, anyway?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Ron yawned loudly. "I didn't want Percy to wake us up early. What time is it, anyway?"

"You don't want to know, mate. You don't want to know."

~*~

An hour later, they all stood in the middle of the living room, trunks and cages full of animals next to them.

"So, how are we getting there, Mum?" Ginny asked. "By Portkey?"

"No dear, Floo powder. We're going to your father's office."

Harry groaned inwardly at the thought of traveling by Floo, but was excited at the idea of seeing the Minister of Magic's office.

One by one, they took a handful of powder, threw it into the flames of the fireplace in the living room, and shouted, "Minister's Office!"

As the dust cleared, Harry saw that he was standing in the middle of large, dimly lit room carved entirely out of dark red marble. There were tall columns on either side of the massive fireplace, and a large Oriental rug that stretched the length of the room to a dark, cherry wood desk where Mr. Weasley was sitting and reading a long scroll of parchment. A dozen pale violet paper airplanes, which Harry remembered from his first visit to the Ministry, jockeyed for position around the desk. Harry thought they made Mr. Weasley look like he had his own personal rain cloud above his head. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and realised that there were several grim-looking wizards lined up on each of the walls, their scarlet robes blending perfectly with the surrounding marble.

"Aurors, in their uniforms," Ron whispered in his ear.

Harry was going to ask how Ron knew this when a prim-looking witch approached. She had a long, pointed nose, and peppered hair pulled into a tight bun. She was wearing navy robes so dark that they appeared black in the light from the fireplace.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic and to the Minister's private chambers," she said formally, stepping up to them.

He watched as she removed all of the ash and soot from each of them with a swish of her wand. When it was his turn, Harry felt a tickle across his face, as if someone had brushed a feather duster across it. The witch then pointed her wand at the door and a swoosh of silver flew from it. A moment later, four burly men in overalls came marching in to collect their trunks, Crookshanks' basket, and Hedwig's and Pigwidgeon's cages.

"They're taking them on to the Leaky Cauldron," Mrs. Weasley explained. "We'll be staying there tonight."

Percy had already marched over to his father's desk, which was piled high with pieces of parchment, and now stood in front of it, talking to Mr. Weasley.

"What can I do to help, Dad?" he asked, no hint of his usually smug voice.

"We have Builders on the Atrium level right now; I'm sure they could do with an extra hand," Mr. Weasley said.

Percy opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped at a look from Mr. Weasley. Harry thought Percy probably wanted nothing more than to continue working as the Minister's personal secretary, but Mr. Weasley was having none of it.

Mr. Weasley turned to Harry and the others who had joined Percy at the desk, and explained, "The Ministry has been working around the clock to restore the damage done from the Death Eaters in hopes to improve morale. They just finished my office last night." Harry glanced around and repressed a shudder as he thought about what dark and terrible events took place in this very room, just a few nights earlier.

Mrs. Weasley walked up and gave her husband a fierce kiss on the cheek. "We really mustn't stay long, Arthur. I know you're busy, and I want to get to the Leaky Cauldron before dark."

"All right then, Molly," Mr. Weasley replied, and then turned to the prim-faced witch who had retreated to a corner of the room. "Esmeralda, if you don't mind?..." The witch nodded and walked briskly out of the room, clutching a clipboard in the crook of her arm.

Since it appeared that it would be a few minutes before they left, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny took the opportunity to explore the rest of the office and left Mrs. Weasley, Percy, and Mr. Weasley to talk. They wandered through a door to the left of the room, into a larger room that appeared to be a meeting place. A long, wooden table- the same dark cherry colour as Mr. Weasley's desk- sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by high-backed, brown leather chairs. In the center of the table sat a spindly looking silver instrument, very similar to the one Harry had seen in Dumbledore's office.

"I wonder what that is," Ginny said, pointing at the instrument, and speaking aloud the question in Harry's mind.

"I expect it is some kind of communication device," Hermione answered, looking at it with interest. "You know, like a conference call."

"A what?" Ron asked, looking at her dubiously.

"It's a... oh, never mind. I wonder why we bothered to Floo here in the first place and not just to the Leaky Cauldron straight-away. I mean, your mum doesn't seem too keen on us staying here long," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Most likely they've shut off Floo access to all main fireplaces, as well as putting up anti-Apparation charms in all the local spots. That's what they did in 1975 after Voldemort constructed his first attack on the public at Diagon Alley, as a matter of fact," Ron said automatically. "After that is when the Ministry set up Creed Number Thirty-Five stating that, in event of a mass attack, all means of wizarding transportation will be limited to private premises only. Although, I imagine it is necessary for the Minister of Magic to still have some access to the Floo network, however restricted." He stopped and turned to look at them, eyes slightly unfocused.

Harry goggled at him. "Who are you, and what have you done with Ron Weasley?"

Ron flushed and shook his head from side to side, as if to clear it. Ginny answered for him. "We forgot to tell you, Harry, with everything else that's going on. Ron's been having these... funny turns, you see, where he has these thoughts or memories that aren't exactly his."

"WHAT? How can you have thoughts that aren't yours? When did this start?"

This time Hermione answered. "It's been happening ever since we went into the Department of Mysteries. I think it has something to do with that brain that attacked him. It must have contained other people's memories-- or something similar-- and they transferred to Ron so now he has these random thoughts at odd times..." She trailed off, looking at Ron pensively.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley walked in the room, interrupting the conversation. "It's time to go. The car is here."

They said their goodbyes to Mr. Weasley, and then followed Mrs. Weasley and Percy out the door to the office where the Minister's private lift was located. One of the Aurors followed them into the lift, scarlet robes swishing importantly around him. Harry couldn't imagine how they would all fit, but then realised that the lift was probably charmed to stretch, just like the Ministry cars. They ascended quickly and paused at the Atrium level. At this, Percy stepped out of the lift and stated that he would see them all that night at dinner.

They went up another level, and the doors opened to reveal a glassed-in, rather shabby-looking lobby. One dull light in the ceiling flickered ominously, and there was dirt and old papers littered across the room. Harry peered through the grimy glass window next to him and realised he was looking out into Muggle London.

The Auror herded them quickly across the room and through the glass door to the outside, where a shiny black car waited for them. Harry turned back to look at the building they had just left, and saw that signs reading "DANGER: CONDEMNED BUILDING!" were plastered over all of the windows.

Mrs. Weasley slid into the front of the car quickly, so Muggles would not notice her wizarding robes, while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny crawled into the back seat. Harry wondered if anyone had noticed the Auror's conspicuously red robes, and took a chance to glance at him before joining the others in the car. He was shocked to see an ordinary looking brunette man in slacks and a scarlet jumper standing on the sidewalk. The only thing that gave him away as a wizard was that he was surreptitiously holding a wand tight in his right hand. The Auror noticed Harry staring and gave him a sly wink before shutting the car door after him and motioning the driver on.

~*~

They reached the Leaky Cauldron in record time; the Ministry car had whipped in and out of traffic just as it had in Harry's third year. The innkeeper, Tom, was waiting for them inside the darkened door of the Leaky Cauldron, which was unusually empty. He ushered them through the few curious patrons sitting around the bar, and up several flights of stairs to a part of the building Harry had never seen before.

"These'll be your all's rooms here, Mistress Weasley," he said, bowing awkwardly in front of her and grinning toothlessly, as he opened the doors to three rooms along the hall. Harry peered into the closest one and gasped at what was obviously the best room the Leaky Cauldron had to offer. Almost every surface was gilded to the point of being extremely tacky. There were crystal candelabras in every corner, backed by beveled mirrors that sent points of light dancing around the room. A large four-poster bed, lacquered completely in black paint, took up most of the spacious room. Suspended in midair above the bed was a golden chandelier lit by faeries who were cavorting and giggling madly. Harry could feel Hermione shaking with silent laughter next to him.

"Oh, thank you, Tom, but your regular rooms will suffice," Mrs. Weasley said politely.

Tom looked shocked, as if Mrs. Weasley had just suggested to him that he make his pub alcohol-free. "I wouldn't think of it, Mistress," he wheezed. "No Minister's wife is goin' to stay in some dirty, flea-bitten room the regulars use. Not while Ol' Tom is innkeeper, no sir."

Harry exchanged an amused glance with Ron at Tom's mention of fleas in the rooms they usually took. Hermione looked a little sick. After leaving Mrs. Weasley in the first room, Tom took Harry and Ron to their room before leading Hermione and Ginny to theirs. Harry's and Ron's room was nowhere near as flashy as Mrs. Weasley's was, but it would still stretch one's imagination to call it tasteful. There were, however, two enormous feather beds that looked so inviting that Harry considered spending the rest of the afternoon taking a nap in one instead of shopping in Diagon Alley. At the foot of each bed were his and Ron's trunks. Twin dressers lined each side of the door, and on one lay a note written in spidery handwriting on a piece of ancient parchment:

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter,

Your owls have been taken to Eyelops Owl Emporium for a complimentary checkup and grooming session. They will be returned to you before your departure in the morning. Thank you for choosing the Leaky Cauldron for your patronage.

"Wow," Ron said, "now that's service. C'mon Harry. I'm dying to see the joke shop."

They met Ginny and Hermione in the hallway and stopped by Mrs. Weasley's room to tell her they were leaving. After promising her that they would be back by dark, and that they would "stay together no matter what" they were finally out of the Leaky Cauldron and free to explore on their own.

As they stepped out on Diagon Alley from the back of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry noticed immediately the changes that had taken place since he had last been there. The usually bustling street was practically empty, and those who were about wore grim expressions and spoke in whispers, their eyes darting furtively around. Harry glanced down the alley and drew in a sharp breath. There were Aurors on every corner, standing with their backs straight and wands held at their sides, staring down passersby as if each were a Death Eater in disguise.

They made a quick trip to Gringotts first to get some spending money, and then set out to find the supplies they would need for their Animagi transformation. Ron had wanted to go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes right away, but Hermione convinced him that they should get all their school supplies first.

They stopped in the apothecary to pick up boomslang skin, fluxweed, spine of lionfish, puffer-fish eyes, and other various ingredients.

"I don't understand why we can't just wish these things into the Room of Requirement, or better yet- wish an already made Animagus potion into being," Ron grumbled, struggling with a heavy sack of Erumpent horns as they left the shop. "This lot practically cost a fortune."

"Well, that might work," Hermione said acidly, "if we wanted to be Animagi in the Room of Requirement only. Items brought out of the room- that you didn't bring in- will only last temporarily."

"How do you know?" Ginny asked, curiously. Hermione pretended not to hear the question and kept her eyes straight ahead as she walked, but Harry could see a faint blush starting in her cheeks.

"Oh, don't tell us," Ron said sarcastically. "You tried taking some of those Defense books out, didn't you? Wanted to do some more light reading, did you?"

Hermione sniffed, and walked past him down the alley toward Flourish & Blotts, studiously ignoring Ron. Ginny, Ron, and Harry followed her, chuckling quietly together.

~*~

A few hours later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had been to Flourish & Blotts for their schoolbooks and to Madame Malkin's robe shop so that Harry could buy new school robes. He was surprised to find he had even grown out of his dress robes from fourth year, and bought new scarlet ones that were lined in a silky gold material. The four of them went back to the Leaky Cauldron briefly to deposit their packages and supplies, and to eat lunch before setting out for the joke shop.

They didn't have to look too long before finding the twins' store. After walking a bit down the alley past Gringotts, they noticed one shop that had an enormous crowd in front of it, and that was emitting strange noises. As they approached, they saw that Fred and George had erected a makeshift stage in front of the store. Behind the stage, strung up above the entrance, was an enormous banner reading Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Grand Back to School Sale. Harry glanced around at the people in the audience and recognised many students from Hogwarts. Closer to the door, Harry spotted Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Susan Bones from Hufflepuff. He met Susan's gaze and she gave him a little wave in greeting.

Fred was currently standing on the stage holding a bright purple fedora, and George had knelt down next to him, attempting to talk a boy of about eight to reach into the hat and pull something out of it. The boy eyed George suspiciously but reached into the hat anyway. At first the boy looked confused, as if he couldn't find anything to grab in the hat, but then he pulled his arm back out and saw that his entire hand had been transfigured into a white rabbit. The crowd burst into raucous laughter, but the boy looked horrified. Before he could do anything, however, the rabbit disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, the boy's hand had returned to normal, without a trace of fur.

George stood up and handed the hat to Fred as he faced the crowd. "Amuse your family and friends!" he shouted. "Buy our new Hat Hare! Only seventeen Sickles each!"

Fred thrust the fedora at the boy, telling him he could keep it for being such a good sport, and the boy ran off the stage eagerly to show it to his friends.

"Ooh! They should be careful," Hermione admonished. "They might really upset someone with their tricks."

"What are you on about, Hermione?" Ron scoffed. "That was genius! I'm going to have to get one of those. Come on, Harry, let's go inside."

"Harry! Ron!"

Harry heard Seamus Finnigan's voice and turned to see him and Dean Thomas pushing through the crowd to the left of him, grins plastered over their faces.

"You just missed it, mate," Dean said, snorting with laughter. "George talked Neville into trying out one of their jinxed hairbrushes onstage for 10% off all their products. His hair poufed up into a huge pompadour and he started singing some blues song, right there in front of everyone. It was brilliant."

"Where is he now?" Ron asked, craning his neck over the crowd, apparently hoping to get a glimpse of Neville's hair.

"I saw him go back into the store," Seamus said. "He's probably hiding until the jinx wears off."

"Let's go on in ourselves," Ginny said, smiling at Dean, "before they rope us into trying something as well." The group of them pushed through the crowd to the shop's entrance, but stopped abruptly in the doorway in amazement.

The walls were plastered with shelves of merchandise and stretched up twenty feet high to an arched ceiling, where several of Weasleys' Wizard Whiz-Bangs were flying around emitting sparks and occasionally dive bombing a customer or two. Tall, wooden ladders floated around here and there, so that customers could use them to reach items higher up. Ginny drifted off with Dean and Seamus towards the far end of the shop, which was dedicated entirely to baked goods. From where he stood, Harry could just make out a tray of Canary Creams.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their time wandering through the aisles and looking at everything in awe. The shelves contained a variety of items that Harry never knew Fred and George could make, let alone mass-produce. In one section held all of their "fake" goods: fake wands that turned into different animals if you tried to use them, quills that wouldn't write but instead squirted ink everywhere, mirrors that only showed reflections of ghouls whenever anyone looked into them.

Harry spotted the jinxed hairbrushes and combs that had obviously been used on Neville (attached was a label that read: Warning- Not for Muggle Use). He saw the invisibility hats the twins had showcased last year, except that now they had invisible gloves as well. There were also self-refilling Butterbeer bottles, ink charmed to change colours at random, sneezing powder, and exploding cauldrons. In the extensive candy section Harry not only found the expected Skiving Snack Boxes and Ton-Tongue Toffees, but there were also some new items such as bubble gum that produced real bubbles, and Peppermint Imps that caused one to breathe fire. He had just reached down to inspect a bag of multi-coloured Lizard Licorice Whips ("Watch your skin camouflage and change colours before your eyes!"), when he heard Ron give a whoop of laughter behind him. Harry turned to see Ron and Hermione doubled over in mirth, both wearing very familiar looking glasses and lightening-shaped scars on their foreheads.

"What do you think, Harry?" George asked, as he and Fred walked up. "It's the Unofficial Harry Potter Kit."

"We thought if everyone could have cool scars on their foreheads, they'd quit staring at yours," Fred added.

"It's brilliant," Harry said, grinning at them.

~*~

An hour later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left the others at the joke shop and headed towards Florean Fortesque's ice cream parlour. They settled under an umbrella at a table outside, eating variously flavoured sundaes and chatting idly. Harry scooped up a particularly large amount of his butterscotch sundae with his spoon and ate it contentedly. Despite the almost empty streets, and the ominous presence of the many Aurors, it had been a good day. For a bit, while in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, he had almost been able to forget about Voldemort, Death Eaters, and Sirius. Almost.

A shadow fell across their table and a drawling voice reached Harry's ears.

"Well, what do we have here? It looks like the Terrific Threesome have added a fourth. What's the matter, Potter, the Mudblood and the Weasel weren't pathetic enough for you, so you had to settle for Tom Riddle's leftovers?"

Harry jumped up, wand already raised, to face a leering Draco Malfoy, and was followed shortly by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"You'll want to watch your mouth, Malfoy," Harry hissed, leaning in so closely that their faces were almost touching. "I'd hate to accidentally rearrange your pointy face." Draco took a step back, but never lost the smug smile on his face.

"Harry, do be careful," Ginny said calmly, placing a hand on his arm. "This ferret isn't worth doing magic outside of school."

Harry was keenly aware of the crowd that was slowly gathering, despite the lack of shoppers that day.

"Don't worry, Ginny. I think Malfoy here remembers from our last Quidditch match that I don't need a wand to get my point across, especially when he's missing his bullying bookends. Isn't that right, Malfoy?"

A slight tint appeared high on Draco's cheekbones, but that was the only sign he was affected by the confrontation. "You're guarding the wrong hen, Potter. Do I have to keep reminding you that the Dark Lord goes after Mudbloods first? And their families."

Draco stepped back again, watching their reactions to this statement with a look of satisfaction. Harry was roughly shoved aside as Ron pushed past him to grab Draco up by the front of his shirt. Ron was so much taller than he was that Draco's toes were barely scraping the ground.

"What is that supposed to mean, Malfoy?" Ron growled. "Is that a threat?"

"No, Weasley, that's a promise." With that statement, Draco wrenched himself free from Ron, turned on his heel, and walked briskly down the alley, brushing past an Auror that had started walking toward the group. Harry ignored the murmuring of the dispersing group of onlookers and turned to face his friends. Hermione had slumped back into her chair, white faced and shaking.

"My parents. He was talking about my parents. I just know it. I should have expected something like this to happen. What am I going to do?"

"I think you mean, what are we going to do," Ginny said kindly, kneeling down next to her and placing an arm around Hermione's shoulders. Harry and Ron exchanged dark looks, and Ron was about to speak when he was interrupted by a deep, male voice.

"Someone needs to explain what just happened here."

Harry jumped in surprise and looked around to face a familiar, tall, dark-skinned Auror. He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Hermione who quickly explained what Malfoy had told them.

Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded thoughtfully. "I see. You'd better give me your parents' name and address then." Hermione provided the information and he left quickly, promising that a team would be dispatched to her home, and that Hermione would receive an owl post when there was any news.

"Lucky he was here, then," Ron said thoughtfully, and knelt down to comfort Hermione. "Don't worry, Hermione. Dad'll make sure your parents are protected. We'll figure out something, okay?"

But Harry didn't think it was coincidence that a member of the Order happened to be on duty the day they went to Diagon Alley. He would've bet all the gold in Gringotts that Mr. Weasley had something to do with it. However, for once, he didn't mind being watched.

Hermione was past being fearful for her parents, and had moved on to being angry. "I just don't understand why that git would even bother warning me! He's got to know that we'd go to the authorities with that information!"

"Who knows what goes through his mind!" Ron exclaimed. "He's crazy, that one is. Probably tortures small animals for fun. Forget about Malfoy, Hermione. He's not worth it. We'd better get a move on though, it's almost dark, and Mum'll throw a wobbly if we're not back to the Leaky Cauldron before then."

~*~

It was a subdued dinner that night, held in one of the private dining areas in the back of the Leaky Cauldron. There were only eight of them that night since Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie were all still at work. No one brought up the incident with Malfoy and Harry didn't want to be the first to break the silence at the dinner table. He wasn't even sure if Mrs. Weasley had found out or not. It wasn't until the four of them, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, were sitting in Ron's and Harry's room after dinner that they heard any news regarding Hermione's parents. An official-looking brown barn owl swooped in through the open window and dropped a roll of parchment into Hermione's lap before taking off again, not even waiting for a reply. Without saying a word Hermione tore into the scroll and read it aloud,

Hermione,

Your parents are safe for now and are being protected. See Professor McGonagall immediately upon your arrival to Hogwarts tomorrow evening. She will tell you the plan on keeping them safe. Try not to worry- everything is under control.

Sincerely,

Arthur Weasley

Minister of Magic

Hermione reread the note, probably trying to read between the lines for any hidden meaning. Her face had still not regained its full colour and she looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes and her hair hanging limply around her face.

"Well, that's a relief," Ron said, breaking the silence. "Wonder what they have planned?"

"Dunno," Harry replied, wishing he could say something a little more helpful. He rarely saw Hermione truly upset, and what she was feeling now, Harry could probably guess. It was the same irrational guilt that Harry felt when putting others in danger just because of who he was. He couldn't help being the Boy Who Lived anymore than Hermione could help having Muggle parents. Harry knew from painful experience, however, that rational thinking only went so far when it came to the prospect of losing a loved one.

It was Ginny who finally broke the silence. "Come on, Hermione. Let's go on to bed. The sooner we get to sleep, the sooner it will be tomorrow, and you can talk to McGonagall." Hermione nodded mutely, hugged Ron and Harry goodnight, and then followed the younger girl out of the room.