Love Among Muggles

The Hogwarts Express had never looked so welcoming to Andromeda as it did in January 1968, and she sat in a carriage full of eagerly-reading Ravenclaws with relief. She regretted leaving her sisters at home, as always, and consoled herself with the thought that within a couple of years both Narcissa and Bellatrix would enjoy the less comfortable but freer corridors of Hogwarts.

Andromeda had been neglected as a child, and had never really loved her mother - Druella had paid too little attention to her too late for that - but for the first time in her life, Andromeda actually feared her parents. She'd never really understood why they had so much influence over other witches and wizards. Her mother would use the Bruising Hex to punish her, but she'd assumed all children put up with that. (Bellatrix had been punished so often, it was as though she'd come to welcome any attention and looked forward to the hex.) Now Andromeda wondered what equivalent of the hex the Blacks used on adults who displeased them.

She'd thought of Ted's friend Maggie over and over after Christmas. She'd accepted Ted and Claire's assertion that someone framed Maggie to bring down the Minister fairly early on, but she'd never believed it as fervently as she did now. Finally she had some notion of how vulnerable Muggle-born witches and wizards felt. Once upon a time, she'd known she would be cast out by her family if she stayed with Ted, yet she'd always imagined going back, and her parents throwing off all their old prejudices on seeing how wonderful Ted was. Now she knew it was impossible. When she left, it would be for good - and she would be glad of that. Not only had her parents never understood her, she'd never understood them either.

As she sat down to dinner in the Great Hall, she felt almost like laughing, she was so glad to be back at school. She felt drunk on safety. Looking up at the hovering candles and the starry roof above, she felt dizzy. Hellebore Smith looked up and smiled. "Hi, Andromeda," she said. "I'm regretting missing your party now - I hear it was quite an eye-opener."

The comment brought her down to earth. Andromeda's memories of the party always involved the frightening Lord Voldemort, so were less than happy. She shrugged. "It was a big event," she admitted. Eye-opener indeed, she thought, mostly for me.

Ellen Hartley, a half-blood and therefore someone who had not even been invited, leaned over the table. "Broderick Bode said Opal Carstairs did a cartwheel across the ball room."

Andromeda blushed at the recollection. "Well, yes..."

"People saw her knickers?" Ellen asked.

Ravenclaw prefect and Head Girl Marlene McKinnon, who'd been listening in, shook her head. "The Carstairs are a very traditional family, you know..."

Hellebore choked on a mouthful of roast lamb, and Ellen slapped her on the back. "Please tell me you don't mean she wasn't wearing any," Ellen said.

Broderick grinned. "She got an enthusiastic round of applause from all the chaps in the room. Well, the younger ones. The older ones were probably too married to approve. Alexander Macmillan says Opal's risen mightily in his estimation."

"She's sunk through the floor in my mother's," Andromeda told him, pleased to have something to talk and think about other than dead Muggles and Lord Voldemort. "I don't think she'll be invited to any more events my family organises for a few decades."

"She just loves to be noticed," Hellebore sighed.

"She was put out because Molly Prewett was there," Broderick said. "So Jezebel reckons."

"Who could ever be jealous of Porky?" Ellen wondered. "She's a good sort, but not really envy-arousing."

Broderick stopped tearing up a bread roll and listed the points. "She's an out-and-out blood traitor, so guaranteed to get the attention of everyone in the place. She was wearing bright green to suit her hair, and the colour looked better on her than many of the other girls who wore it. And, well - everyone knows she's a bit mucky."

Andromeda glared at Broderick. "Molly is my friend. She is not 'a bit mucky'."

"So you say. Ed Johnson is in Gryffindor, and he says he's seen love bites on Arthur's neck when they've been getting dressed in the morning."

"She loves Arthur."

"Mucky!" Broderick teased. Andromeda kicked him under the table.

"If you keep being awful about my friend, I'll... I'll tell Jezebel you're too shy to tell her, but you're deeply in love with her."

Broderick blanched. Ellen laughed. "You wouldn't dare," Broderick croaked. "She sticks like toffee to your teeth, that one."

Andromeda smiled. "Lay off Molly."

Dinner continued happily, and Andromeda felt more like her old self. Now she was surrounded by her housemates, Lord Voldemort was becoming an unpleasant memory. She'd had very little to eat over Christmas thanks to her mother's strict diet regime, and so stuffed herself silly on all sorts of forbidden treats, including a double helping of apple crumble and custard.

At the end of the meal, however, Marlene McKinnon drew Andromeda aside as they left the Great Hall. "Andromeda," she began hesitantly, "I was wondering if you'd seen the papers after your party?"

Andromeda pulled an innocent face as she said apologetically, "Not everyone's photos made the society pages of the Daily Prophet... we had so many guests."

"Some Muggles died that night," Marlene told her, exasperated at Andromeda's sudden display of airheadedness as Walden Macnair and Lucius Malfoy walked past. "It... it worried me."

Feeling Macnair's dour presence, Andromeda forced herself to shrug. "I'm not a Muggle. It doesn't worry me."

Without saying another word, Marlene walked off. Andromeda knew she'd made Marlene think less of her, but she needed to maintain her pretence of being the young witch her parents expected her to be. All her fears from the holiday crept over her again. As safe as Hogwarts was, she knew there was a scarier world outside its walls. With a forced smile at Jezebel Parkinson and Venus Potts, Andromeda headed off to the library. I need to know my enemies, she thought, and I might as well start at the top.

There was a space at one table. Alice Yaxley, a round-faced Gryffindor sixth-year, sat there. Alice wanted to become an Auror so she was in many of the same NEWT classes as Andromeda. She wasn't naturally bright enough to be a Ravenclaw but she worked hard. Andromeda took the vacant chair, claimed the space by setting out her quills and parchment on the table, and then went to look for some books on genealogy.

The books she found were about twenty years old, but the strange man who'd been at her birthday party had been older than that so Andromeda reasoned that his parents would feature if he were pureblood. She flicked through the pages. It was as she'd thought: there were no Voldemorts. Whoever the man was, if he was proud of his pure blood, he was hiding it under a new name.

The man hadn't looked like a member of one particular family. In fact, there had been something faintly inhuman about him, but Andromeda dismissed the thought that he was part-human. No part-human would be welcomed by the Carrows and Malfoys as Lord Voldemort had. He'd sounded British - English, even. Andromeda frowned, remembering their conversation. The man had been irritated, but only once, by someone in the room, and he'd said something off-the-cuff. 'You bloody fool,' that was it. Andromeda was sure she wasn't remembering it correctly, though. Whenever she thought of him saying it, she imagined Ted's voice. No one her parents associated with would have grown up in a poor part of Muggle London, though. I was upset, she decided, and I'm not remembering properly.

Her own family line, as listed in the book, distracted her. There was her father, under the heading 'Black of Yew Park'. 'Black, Cygnus Alphard of Yew Park, Warwickshire. m. Druella, dau. of Ares Rosier of Castell Hen, Dyfed.' Neither she nor her younger sisters were listed; they were all born after the book was printed. Her grandparents were listed there. It had been some time since Andromeda had seen them. Once Cygnus was old enough to run Yew Park, Pollux and Irma had taken themselves off to a remote Scottish island owned by the family, where they could live a totally Muggle-free life, and left their son to look after the mansion.

A name under her the entry surprised her, however. It listed her father's antecedents, and her great-grandfather was listed as having four children. Four? Pollux was there, and both his sisters, but there was another brother also. A man called Marius. The note mentioned that he was a Squib and made no other reference to him. Andromeda drew in her breath. She'd seen the burnt patch on her Uncle Orion's tapestry where this man should be. He might still be alive!

***

Over the next couple of days Andromeda tried to track down Venus Potts. She eventually bumped into her in the girls' loos.

"Ah, Venus! I was hoping to see you."

"Mmm?" Venus said.

Andromeda was taken aback by the other girl's haughtiness. While she was prepared to leave her pure-blood Black status behind one day, actually having someone treat her as if she was of no consequence was something she'd never had to face and she didn't like it very much. Grow a spine, she told herself. Claire faces worse than this every single day and keeps on smiling.

"Well, if you're too busy to talk, never mind," Andromeda said, coldly, as she leaned carelessly against the white-tiled wall. "I needed to discuss a point of genealogy with someone, actually, and I knew you'd always studied the family trees very carefully. Particularly the better ones."

Venus scowled, knowing her own tree was not considered a good one. "I'll be a Bulstrode one day," she cautioned.

Andromeda smiled, all the time wanting to squash Venus back to the place where she belonged. "No, dear, you'll be the Potts who married a Bulstrode. You'll always be a Potts." She could imagine her mother saying it.

"The Pottses are going up in the world," Venus told her.

Andromeda laughed. "Isn't that the only way open to you?" She stamped off, leaving the bathroom and Venus' smug face behind. How dare scrawny little Venus talk to me like that? Andromeda thought. She was quick enough to tell me what I wanted last term. Without thinking, she barged straight into Araminta Mariner, who was walking to class with Opal Carstairs.

"Woah there!" Araminta laughed. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I've just been cheeked by that no-good little witch Venus Potts!" Andromeda blurted indignantly. "Can you believe it?"

"Oh, she's been full of herself since term began," Araminta said. "I hexed her mouth shut yesterday and only took the spell off at mealtimes."

"You should do it some more," Andromeda huffed. "Coming out with all that cobblers about her being a Bulstrode one day, and the Pottses becoming a family of note. I ask you!"

"Her father's got a new job," Opal said. Both other witches looked at her. Opal, ever the gossip, shrugged. "Not one to replace his regular job. I think he's doing a favour for someone, or something like that. She can't stop boasting about him being about to become more important, but clams up as soon as anyone asks her how."

"I shouldn't worry about it," Araminta advised Andromeda. "What did you need to ask her, anyhow?"

"She's into genealogy. I wanted to know about Squibs. Can they be pure-blood?"

Opal thought and then said, "I guess so, although they'll never make a pure-blood marriage unless it's to another Squib."

"And when a family disinherits someone, do they ever get readmitted?"

"Definitely not!" Araminta told her. "Although that's usually for marrying out, so their children would only be half-bloods anyway."

"What if their partner dies and they marry another disinherited pure-blood?"

"I don't know," Opal confessed. "I mean, it doesn't happen often - does it?"

"I was just wondering if a person could be pure-blood without it being recognised."

"There might be some about," Araminta admitted, "but I'm sure they'd say something. After all, even if your parents are both disinherited, if you could claim a bloodline you would, wouldn't you? You'd still have a surname worth using, and it'd be spotted."

"I guess so." Andromeda was crestfallen. She still had no idea who the mysterious Lord Voldemort was.

Opal smiled. "Never mind, eh? And we'll sort Venus out for you. She needs to learn she can't cheek her betters."

"Oh, forget it," Andromeda said, but they were already going.

"Her and her stupid father's super-stupid super-secret job," Opal's voice floated back saying.

**

Dear Ted,

I'm no nearer finding out who Mr Mysterious is - you know who I mean. All I seem able to find out is who he isn't. I'm going to start talking to my schoolmates to see what their attitude towards the Muggle burnings was too, but it's going to be slow work. You can scratch the McKinnons off your list, if they're on there. Marlene's the only one who's mentioned the attacks to me so far, and she was quite upset by it.

Caractacus Potts might be worth looking at. He was at my party, and his daughter's been saying stuff about him having some sort of secret, status-boosting job to do. Given the current political mood, I'm guessing it's going to be something that won't be good for Muggles and possibly Muggle-borns.

See you in February,

Your own,

Annie

PS I can't do it from this end - people would be suspicious - but please could you find out if Marius Black is still alive, and where he is? He's a disinherited relative, a Squib.

**

Alastor Moody was enjoying life. For once, there seemed to be plenty of work for him to do. He knew, deep down, that there would always be plenty of Dark Wizards around, but there wasn't always enough evidence to go on to prosecute them. It frustrated him. Just seeing the likes of Abraxas Malfoy or Cygnus Black in the street made his skin itch. Ted Tonks, therefore, was like manna from heaven. Moody could track him without trouble.

He scribbled some more notes on a sheet of parchment, then sat back to read through it.

Amelia Bones wandered over to him. She'd finished helping out with assessing Muggle-born Ministry workers and was short of tasks herself. "Good morning, Alastor," she said cheerfully. "Have you got any jobs that need doing?"

Moody grunted. "You assessed Tonks, didn't you? What did you make of him?"

"Ted? He was super. About as Muggle as you can get while still being a wizard, but jolly good fun."

"He didn't sneak off anywhere or do anything odd? No dodgy associates?"

"No," Amelia said in surprise. "He took me to a Muggle nightclub to meet the sort of people he works with." She blushed as she recalled the fact that she'd gone out in public with her knees showing - and how much young Muggle men seemed to appreciate the sight.

Moody frowned. He was clever, this Ted Tonks. He hung around with Muggles, just like his job required him to. He had Muggle-born friends. However, he had been friends with a convicted traitor. When he realised he was being followed, he did a neat disappearing act so was clearly up to something, and Andromeda Black's appearance during the failing investigation into the deaths that happened after her own birthday party had to be more than a coincidence. "The more I see of him, the more I think he's hiding something," Moody grunted.

"You think everyone's hiding something," Amelia pointed out sensibly.

"I don't think you're hiding anything," he protested. "I just think you ought to be more careful who you trust."

"If you could have eyes in the back of your head, you would," Amelia laughed.

Moody pondered that. It would be useful. "Any more news on the Muggle killings?"

Amelia pulled out a roll of parchment. "I managed to get a full list of party guests from the social diarist at the Daily Prophet. It's crammed with probable Dark Wizards, but without a weak link to lean on we won't get anyone to talk... I thought I'd chat to a few of the decent types - the Bodes, the Macmillans and the McKinnons - and ask if they noticed anything. My youngest cousin was there, but all he seems to recall is some hussy's cartwheel and young Molly Prewett's bosom. You know what boys are like."

Moody stood up with a groan. He'd injured his knee a few months ago while pursuing a purchaser of human skulls, and it was bothering him in the cold weather. Forget eyes in the back of his head; a new leg wouldn't go amiss. Amelia was right, they needed a weak link, and everybody connected to the Black family was also pure-blood and virtually untouchable. Everyone except Ted Tonks.

***

Geraldine had owled Ted at his office to let him know that 'Sky' had been looking for him. As Ted spent days at a time away from the Muggle Liaison office, it was lucky he'd received the message in time.

"Looks like our boy might be about to show his face," Ted said with satisfaction. "Gladys promised she'd ask Geraldine to get me over if Aneurin was giving any more 'magic shows'."

Jack grinned. "You'd better get the culprit this time. We could really get one over on the Magical Law Enforcement. They still haven't got anyone for the Warwickshire killings."

"We helped them investigate that," Ted reminded him. "I hope this thing won't be anywhere near as bad as that. I don't want people to die."

"Muggle killings are extremely rare," Jack pointed out. "They went out with besom broomsticks and stars on one's robes."

"There are some old-fashioned people about. Wizards are really embracing traditional values nowadays."

Alastor Moody, standing just outside the door, was listening in on the conversation while pretending to admire the fake clear-but-cold winter sky displayed in one of the windows. It isn't strictly eavesdropping, he told himself. Not when you can overhear a whole conversation in a public place. Besides, it never hurts to keep an eye on things. Constant vigilance, that's the key. Moody slunk off to prepare his latest disguise, that of a shepherd. He missed being able to wear his tramp outfit.

Oblivious to Moody's recent presence, Ted and his boss carried on chatting. "She sounds like a nice girl, this Gladys," Jack said casually. "Geraldine says you've been seeing a lot of her in Wales."

"It's not what you think," Ted said.

"She would be open-minded about your abilities," Jack insisted.

"I've got a girlfriend," Ted told him. For a brief second Jack looked annoyed, although his face returned to careful Slytherin neutrality very quickly. Ted had spotted it, though. "You know, don't you?"

Jack tried to cover up. "I told you Andromeda Black was looking for you just before Christmas, didn't I?" He fiddled with his snake-handled paper knife as though planning to cut up some parchment to fire off a letter.

"No," Ted said, "you did not. She came to find me." He was a little annoyed by this. No real harm had been done as Annie had come to find him, but if Jack had said something, he could have arranged a way to meet Andromeda that would have put her at less risk.

Jack dropped the paper knife. He'd hoped that he'd managed to keep Andromeda away from Ted. "She met you in a Muggle place?"

Ted thought for a minute. Sooner or later news would get out about his relationship. Jack wasn't prejudiced - well, not too prejudiced, especially for a pure-blood. He was as good a person as any to test the water with. "The first time I really got talking to her, it was in a cafe on the King's Road. Annie likes Muggle things. She can pass for one, as long as she doesn't have any long conversations."

"You're joking. Andromeda Black? As if Cygnus and Druella would let her-"

"They don't let her. She had an ice cream with me over the summer and her mum hexed her black and blue when she found out. We've kept things dead quiet ever since. Before you say anything, we know we're taking a risk. Don't try to push me at Gladys, because Annie's all I want."

"Her family will kill you." Jack wasn't exaggerating.

"There won't be any point once she's left them. If she can make the break and people know about it, they'll just disinherit her."

"You'll both have a horrible accident some dark night..."

"I'll keep her safe," Ted vowed.

Jack rested his head in his hands. "I'm going to ask you to increase your subs to the Widows and Orphans Fund. Now get your suicidal self to Lampeter."

***

Thanks to a flock of sheep on the road between Lampeter, where the nearest Floo connection was, and Geraldine's farm, Ted arrived much later than he'd anticipated. He was in a bad mood pretty much from the start as he'd arrived in the fireplace at the Porters' Lodge only to realise he'd worn an ordinary Muggle shirt, not the one Geraldine had adapted so he could carry his wand up his sleeve. There was no way for him to carry his wand easily, so he bandaged it to his lower leg and hoped he wouldn't need it in a hurry.

Ted knew he needed to bump into Gladys 'casually', which meant he didn't have time for a cup of tea and a chat with Geraldine. He got out of the car and started doing things in the barn. That meant rearranging stuff. He didn't have a clue what most of the objects in the barn were, but luckily Gladys was a port-town girl and didn't know either.

She'll come when she sees my car, he thought. Come on, Gladys. You must have spotted it by now, or heard me rattling up the farm track.

Unable to use magic, Ted shivered in the cold barn. A pen of sheep watched him through yellow, slotted eyes. He envied them their woolly coats. As night drew on, the barn grew dark and Ted couldn't use any magical form of light. He fumbled around, trying to find the old storm lamp Geraldine used outside in the dark. He hoped it was ready to use; he had no idea where Geraldine kept the fuel.

Just as Ted was about to give up and ask Geraldine for a cuppa and a teacake, Gladys popped her head round the door of the barn. She looked a little less grubby than normal, thanks to recent soap-making lessons with Geraldine. "Hey, you," she called in her soft south-coast accent. "I was hoping I'd see you. Do you fancy seeing a bit of magic tonight?"

"Oh, definitely," Ted said cheerily. "Can Aneurin do anything other than start fires, I wonder?"

"It was impressive," Gladys said. "You're jealous."

Ted laughed. "Maybe you're right, Sky."

"Well, it's a good job you're here now," she told him. "We've got to leave for the old mining village soon."

"Not again," groaned Ted. "Why does he have to hold his little sessions in the middle of nowhere? He can set fire to things at the commune. It'd save you having to light the Rayburn every morning."

Gladys smiled, and Ted was struck, yet again, with the thought that she deserved so much better than life had given her. "Come on. I've taken a detour to get you, and the others are already ahead of us. We'll have to catch them up," Gladys said. She turned to go, and Ted followed.

They could see the others far ahead, forming a little line of lights going up one of the hills. Ted wasn't used to the countryside or climbing hills, and so they never quite managed to catch the others up on the walk. By the time they reached the abandoned mining village miles from anywhere, all Gladys' friends were crammed into a half-ruined building. Ted and Gladys had to stand at the back.

Ted nudged Gladys and nodded towards a pretty blonde girl in the front row. "Who's that?"

Gladys scowled. "Daisy. Sunflower's been dumped. It's not Daisy's fault, of course, but Sunflower's really miserable." Sunflower was sitting on the opposite side of the room to Daisy, hanging on Aneurin's every word. "She's told me she doesn't mind sharing him with Daisy - as if anyone ever shares Aneurin with himself!"

Ted raised an eyebrow. Gladys carried on, this time with a laugh, "Oh, I'm well and truly over him. We've got a good thing going on here, though. Aneurin's been leaving us to ourselves, and a couple of the lads have proved to be good farmers, and an old lady in the village is teaching me to spin. I can put up with Aneurin's magic tricks for that."

The room fell to a hush as Aneurin used his 'wand' to light a few candles. There was no 'summoning of spirits' mumbo-jumbo. This time, Aneurin was getting down to business. He waffled on a bit about earth energies and magical forces; Ted surveyed the room at this point. He hadn't been in this building before, and he noted that the narrow door to the outside was the only way out, because the ceiling in the neighbouring room had collapsed. The building didn't feel structurally safe, and Ted didn't want to think about what might happen if people pushed too hard against the more rickety walls - if Aneurin's fires got out of hand, for example.

With a crack a robed, masked figure appeared, to the oohs and aahs of Aneurin's audience. Now Ted paid attention. Apparating in front of a group of Muggles was a major offence, and he'd have to call in the Obliviators for sure. He didn't feel noticeable staring at the strange wizard; all the hippies were staring too, and Ted was at the back of the room and unlikely to be identified. The wizard wore no distinctive jewellery, and Ted hadn't heard his voice before. All he had to go on was the man's general height and build, and his voice.

The wizard compounded his lawbreaking by creating flocks of little bluebirds that flew around the room, and showers of silver stars rained down on everyone. It was all very pretty. His incantations, clearly designed to hide real spells within strings of gibberish, were getting longer, though, and Ted felt uneasy. He'd had to learn some locking, holding and trapping spells in case he ever had to seize an offender in the Muggle world, and some of the words in the incantation were the same. Idly he picked a penny out of his pocket and threw it at the doorway. It bounced back, unable to pass through what looked like an opening.

I've got to get everyone out, Ted thought. He squatted down. Gladys noticed. "Get up," she hissed, "You're missing it... Oh, he's making roses grow up the walls!"

Roses I bet no one can break through, Ted thought, feeling sick. He rolled up his trouser leg and freed his wand. As he stood up, ready to tackle the faceless mage, the other wizard simply pointed his wand at one young man and said "Avada Kedavra".

"He's sent him to sleep," Gladys squeaked, not looking at Ted or spotting his wand.

Sunflower was trying to shake the young man awake. People began to realise there was a problem. Ted knew there was a really big problem - a Dark Wizard never killed just one Muggle in a room, he killed them all. Dark Wizards didn't leave witnesses. Everyone in the ruined building was going to die. Sunflower looked at the wizard. "Wake him up now, please," she said.

"You can't wake the dead," the wizard laughed.

People began to look at one another, still hoping that this was a joke and that soon their friend would wake up. Aneurin stood up. This wasn't what he'd expected, and whatever anyone thought of him, the people around him were his people, as far as he was concerned, and no one had any right to take them away from him. "This isn't funny," he protested. "Wake him up."

"Sky," Ted urged. The girl wasn't paying him any attention. He hissed more loudly, "GLADYS BUNCH!" That made her head turn. "There's a loose stone near the door. Go and work it free. You need to create a hole. The room's sealed." Now she saw his wand and her jaw dropped. "Don't gawp," Ted ordered. "Get that stone free, call the others and get out through the gap. This lunatic's going to kill everyone here."

Gladys immediately followed orders. Aneurin, meanwhile, had pulled out his own 'wand'. "You bring him back now, or I'll burn you," he threatened the stranger.

The wizard laughed. "Go on, then."

As Ted had known it would, Aneurin's spell failed. Ted began to push his way to the front of the room. He needed to distract the wizard so he wouldn't notice people leaving. The wizard was having fun with Aneurin, however. "You can't do magic. It's a gift. You have to have it from birth. You animals are pathetic."

Aneurin tried again to burn the wizard.

"You can't do it. Don't you understand? Any power you have comes from me. Crucio!"

As Aneurin writhed and wailed, Ted yelled, "Oi, your mother was a hag and your father was a Mudblood!" He wasn't ashamed of being Muggle-born, but he knew it was the worst insult he could heap on this sort of wizard.

The masked face turned. The wand-hand came round too, and Aneurin sobbed in relief at being released from the curse. Ted managed to cast a shield spell just in time as a hex blasted towards him. "I am Ted Tonks of Muggle Liaison, and I am arresting you for breaching the Magical Secrecy Act," he shouted. "I am also charging you with two counts of using Unforgivable Curses, and one of murder!"

The wizard laughed so hard Ted thought he was going to burst, and pointed his wand at Sunflower. Ted immediately cast Wingardium Leviosa on a broken bit of furniture and brought it into the air in front of the terrified girl just as a jet of light shot out. The wood crumbled to dust.

Oh hell, Ted thought. There's not a lot of furniture about to use. I've got to draw his fire.

However, the wizard seemed to know Ted was trying to act as a decoy and focussed his attention on the Muggles. Ted managed to protect Sunflower from another blast, but a man got hit with something that made his skin bubble up as though burned. Finally Ted decided he would have to let one Muggle get hit with something - hopefully not the Killing Curse - in order to save the rest. Aneurin struggled to his feet and dived at his tormentor, and as he did Ted cast a binding spell at the wizard, but only managed to bind his legs. With Aneurin gripping round his knees, the Dark Wizard fell. He looked at Ted as he hit the ground, and Ted thought he saw him wink through his mask. Then he vanished.

He's gone," Aneurin said, getting up. "He left this..." A large, red stone pulsed in his hand.

"GET OUT!" Ted screamed. "EVERYONE, GET OUT!"

He had a few brief seconds in which to cast a shield spell. Then came the explosion.