A Mission Like No Other

In an abandoned old building located on Banal Road, several rats crawled over the floor. Surrounding them were the remains of what used to be a fancy Italian restaurant, which had conveniently been foreclosed over ten years before. Suddenly, the old fireplace burst to life with green flames as three people stepped, one by one, out into the room. As this occurred, all the rats ran for cover.

"What is this place?" Ron asked, wiping soot from his face.

"It’s an old Muggle restaurant," Lupin explained. "The Ministry keeps it closed as easy transport to London for those wizards who can’t Apparate. As you know, many wizards who don’t want to Apparate ride brooms, but you can’t exactly fly a broomstick into downtown London, can you?"

"I guess," Ginny said slowly.

"Now," Lupin began, "From out that door, Athena’s Folly is just around the corner. You can’t miss it — mainly due to the huge letters which read ‘Athena’s Olly.’"

"‘Olly?’" Ron asked curiously.

"The ‘F’ fell off," Lupin explained.

"What’s this Midgarth bloke going to be like?" Ginny asked.

"Well, he’s really stubborn," Lupin explained. "James and Sirius used to say he was ‘Deadly Ernest.’" Ginny giggled, but Ron, apparently, didn’t catch the joke.

"‘Deadly’ what?" he asked, nonplused.

"Never mind," Lupin said quickly. "As I said before he’s a Squib. He was horribly mistreated by his zealously pure-blood parents. The Order discovered him twenty years ago when we were pursuing his parents. We tried to convince him to help us, but he didn’t want anything more to do with the wizarding world and left it."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Why?" Lupin repeated. "After the way he was treated by his parents and their colleagues, who were Death Eaters, of course, he came to believe the worst of wizardkind."

"But the Order was made up of wizards and you saved him," Ginny pointed out. "Then, wouldn’t he realize we’re not all bad?"

"You might think so," Lupin agreed, "But Midgarth was never the kind of man who could easily admit a mistake. Since Voldemort’s return, Dumbledore’s been trying to convince Midgarth to help out the Order. So far, we’ve made very little progress. Just so you know, he won’t tell us anything about his personal life — whether he has a family, where his home is or anything like that. Dumbledore thinks you two might have what it takes to change his mind about helping us."

"Really?" Ginny asked, suddenly feeling very proud of herself.

"Really," Lupin repeated. "Dumbledore’s assured your mother that you’ll both be perfectly safe. You, of course, shouldn’t use magic unless it’s a real emergency, but it’s highly doubtful you’ll meet any Death Eaters. I wish could come with you, but the Death Eaters would recognize me in any instant."

"But, wouldn’t they recognize us, too?" Ginny asked. "I mean, everyone knows who the Weasleys are, right?"

"Actually, I don’t think they will," Lupin answered confidently. "They’ll know your names, but they won’t know what you look like."

"Lucius Malfoy —" Ron began.

"…is in Azkaban," Lupin finished.

"Yeah, but what about Bellatrix Lestrange?" Ginny asked. "She saw us in the Department of Mysteries and she got away."

"She saw you once," Lupin replied. "If she saw you again, out of context, she probably wouldn’t be able to place you. Besides, it’s not exactly likely she would saunter around Muggle London just for the fun of it, is it?"

"I suppose so," Ginny said slowly.

"You two have to come back here either when you have Midgarth or if it’s become clear he won’t give in," Lupin explained. "If you aren’t back in twenty-four hours, I’ll return here to look for you. There’s Floo powder in that old cupboard if you need any. Good luck." And with that, he Disapparated.

"What, he’s just going to leave us here?" Ron asked in shook.

"Weren’t you listening?" Ginny asked incredulously. "He said the Death Eaters would recognize him in an instant. Honestly, you’re sixteen and I’m fourteen-going-on-fifteen — I think we can walk down a street crowded with Muggles to a restaurant and confront a Squib. When Midgarth realizes the Muggle world is at stake too, he should change his mind."

"Well, if Dumbledore’s been trying to convince him to help out the Order, won’t he have already mentioned that?" Ron asked. Ginny gritted her teeth — she hated it when Ron was right.

"Well, maybe, he isn’t fully aware of the danger," she suggested hopefully. Lupin’s words that Midgarth was "never the kind of man who could easily admit a mistake" echoed in her head. Ginny hated to admit it, even to herself, but that was also very true of her.