After Hogwarts

Chapter Seven:

The Walking Cane:

Six months had quickly passed from when Ginny got her first article, Weasley Wizard's Whirlwind Explosive Opening, published. Ginny could hardly believe it was almost springtime. It seemed like just yesterday that she was home for the Christmas holidays visiting with her family.

During the holiday season, the Weasley family had received many holiday owl posts from their many friends. Mrs. Weasley decided to a few posts to the family Christmas Eve while they sat by the fire enjoying some eggnog.

The first post Mrs. Weasley read was from Hermione, who was still traveling throughout America. She wrote that the country was very large, which was good because it gave her a lot to see and do. The past month she had most of her time in Salem, Massachusetts visiting historical witch sites. The muggles in that area were very superstitious and she found the local muggle folklore absolutely fascinating. She didn't mention Ron in her owl post, but it sounded like she was doing much better than she had been when they saw her.

She also read a post from Harry. He was happy to inform them that he was enjoying teaching Defense against the Dark Arts. The students seemed to be very responsive to his style of teaching and that made him feel good. He didn't really have much time to do anything else because he spent most of his time preparing for his classes, but was going to try to make more time during the next semester for a personal life. He also wrote that Ron seemed to be adjusting very well to his new death. In fact, Harry relayed a few stories of different antics that Ron and Peeves pulled, the most recent one being in Harry's classroom, right before mid terms. Harry had been highlighting for the students what they would need to concentrate on for their midterm exams when Ron and Peeves entered Harry's classroom and proceeded to throw books at Harry while he taught his class. It was terribly distracting and caused quite a disturbance; however, both Ron and Peeves found this hilarious, as did the students. As a professor, Harry had to take a harsh tone with Ron and Peeves, but secretly he had found it quite amusing.

Ginny tried to hide her excitement as Mrs. Weasley read Harry's letter. Ginny had purposely not allowed herself to think about Harry since she moved to London, but the mention of his name still gave her butterflies.

Fred and George came to The Burrow late Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with the family. They explained that they planned on coming sooner, but their shop had been extremely very busy over the holiday season. Fred and George's joke shop had done very well since they opened it several months ago. Ginny found it very amusing to listen to her mother boasting about their success to anyone who would listen. Ginny knew that her mother continently forgot how she had given the twins such a hard time about opening a joke shop.

Percy also came home for the holidays, but spent most of the time with his nose in a book. Percy seemed to have settled down in his job and had resigned himself to the fact that this was his station at the Ministry although he was secretly envious of his father who was often traveling around the country on important Ministry business.

Neither Charlie nor Bill was able to make it home for Christmas due to work obligations that they both had.

By Valentines Day, Ginny had published four small news articles and one full-length article. She had contributed to numerous stories for Miranda and was greatly enjoying her job.

Miranda was correct when she told Ginny that much research was done in muggle London. At first Ginny was uncomfortable dressing as a muggle. Their clothes fit much tighter than wizard clothing did. Ginny found that her favorite ensemble consisted of a pair of jeans, a crop top and a pair of tennis shoes.

Ginny's days were fairly routine. Everyday she'd get up early and arrived to work by 7:30 AM. The first thing she did when she there was to get four cups of hot cocoa from the vending machine.

She would then head to Miranda's office, giving her one of the hot cocoas. The women would then chat for a bit and then devise a game plan for the day.

After they were finished, Ginny then went to the second floor to see Theo, giving him one of the cups of hot cocoa while getting three to four rats to scurry around muggle London for leads. Theo was very fond of Ginny, he thought her to be a sweet young lady. He always appreciated her daily cup of chocolate she brought him, especially because he felt so many of the reporters and assistants took him for granted. He felt that they saw him as just an inconsequential person who happened to be in charge of the animals. Ginny was different and he often would save the best and smartest rats for her, as his way of saying thanks.

Finally, Ginny would go to the research library to work on her current articles, bringing Madame Chesney the fourth cup of cocoa and usually some sort of sweet. Every morning Madame Chesney would squeal in delight as if it were the first time Ginny had brought her something tasty.

Ginny usually sat at a small table in the corner of the library and would then layout her work. Often Madame Chesney would bring her books, articles, and periodicals that she thought Ginny could use for research without Ginny asking. Ginny would then work all morning until Miranda grabbed her for lunch.

Miranda and Ginny had made it a ritual that everyday they walked to The Commons and visited their favorite sandwich shop. Ginny almost always ordered tuna and sweet corn on a baguette and got a fizzy drink. They would then sit outside at the same bench everyday so that they could enjoy their lunch in the beautiful park in the middle of the square.

One of the bunnies, a little gray mini lop, that Ginny fed the first time she and Miranda had lunch there, would always meet Ginny as soon as they arrived at The Commons. Ginny named the bunny, Willow. Willow would follow the women while they got their lunch and back to the middle of the square. Willow would patiently wait for Ginny to sit before she'd hop onto Ginny's lap. Ginny would stroke the bunny and feed her bits of her lunch while she ate.

Miranda and Ginny made it a rule that they never discussed business while they ate lunch. The two women had become close friends, so they always had many other things to talk about. Ginny would often inform Miranda about the latest argument that Fred and George had about which one of them would be asking Miranda out. The stories were always entertaining, especially because Fred and George rarely bickered except when it involved Miranda.

"Last night, Fred slipped some language spice into George's butterbeer," Ginny told Miranda. Language Spice was new trick spice that Fred had just created for their shop. If it were ingested, the person would speak several languages at once. "It was soooo funny listening to George scream at him using a combination of Spanish, Hebrew and Japanese!"

"I think your brothers are delusional," Miranda laughed. She found it very strange that they had this crush on her.

"Just put them out of their misery and choose one!" Ginny insisted.

"Your brothers need glasses," Miranada laughed. "Besides, I don't want a boyfriend."

"Really Miranda, they are head over heels for you," Ginny teased. "I have never seen them act like this before."

Miranda made a silly face, "Oh yeah, I'm just such a catch!" Both women laughed.

Miranda and Ginny had many conversations like this. Miranda never shared how uncomfortable Fred and George's behavior actually made her feel. However, Ginny knew her friend well enough to realize that as outgoing as Miranda was at work and with her, she was very shy when it came to men. Ginny reckoned that Miranda might actually be as inexperienced with dating as she was.

Ginny noticed, but never mentioned, that since the opening of Weasley Wizard's Whirlwind when the twins had sprayed Miranda red and blue, Miranda hadn't worn her hair down again since.

Often after they finished lunch and back at the paper, Ginny would go back go upstairs to requisition muggle clothing. She spent many afternoons exploring muggle London doing research.

At first Ginny had found Muggle London a bit scary, but it soon became exciting for her to explore. It was noisy and confusing and she never knew what was going to happen next. Muggles were very strange people who rarely made sense!

Ginny usually got back to the office by 5:30 PM because her rats knew to be back by then. After she'd give her rats a snack, she'd then listen to their tapes before bringing them back to Theo. Her self-writing quill would take adequate notes for her as she played the tapes.

One evening in the middle of March, she was playing the tape her fourth rat brought her when something caught her attention. She was listening to a conversation between two women somewhere in muggle London.

"Doris, did you see that?" the first lady exclaimed.

"See what?" the Doris asked.

"Look at that rat!"

"Yeah, so?" Doris continued, sounding uninterested. "It's a regular old sewer rat."

"Don't you see it?" The first lady sounded irritated by Doris's lack of enthusiasm.

"See what?" Doris sounded confused.

"That rat has a tape recorder on it!" the first lady emphatically insisted.

"I don't see anything like that Jane," Doris flatly answered. "How many pints of beer have you had anyway?"

The rat must have hid by the time Jane continued, "I know what I saw! I saw it! And I haven't had that many pints!"

"Sure you haven't," Doris teased her, dismissing her.

The tape then sounded of static; the rat must have known to leave.

"Very unusual, " Ginny commented to herself. "I think I'll tell Miranda about this first thing tomorrow." Ginny then returned the rats, checked her muggle clothes in and went home for the evening. She was anxious to share her newest lead with Miranda in the morning.

When Ginny entered The Commons, Willow the bunny was waiting for her like usual. Ginny scooped her up and began stroking her as she walked.

"Would you like to come home with me tonight?" Ginny asked the little rabbit. Willow wiggled her nose at Ginny, then licking her face. "I'm taking that as a yes."

Ginny carried Willow up the many stairs to her apartment. Before she went to her room, she got a plate of carrots and a bowl of fresh water for the rabbit. Willow was busy sniffing everything around Ginny's room as Ginny changed out of her work robes into something more comfortable. Once Ginny was changed, she lit the candle on her nightstand and curled up on her bed with a book. She didn't manage to read much because she was amused by Willow who was rubbing her head against most of Ginny's stuff as if marking her new territory.

Ginny's mind kept drifting to the strange muggle conversation; she kept hearing that woman's voice, that rat has a tape recorder on it! Ginny heard it over and over in her head. Ginny panicked at the possibility that the muggle woman actually saw one the enchanted tape recorders on one of her rats. It can't be possible, Ginny tried to shrugging off her concern. No, it's not possible. Muggles can't see enchanted things.

Ginny finally told clock what time to wake her and blew out her candle as she crawled under the covers. Willow was quick to hop up on the bed and cuddle with Ginny. Ginny quickly drifted into sleep.

"Wake up Ginny. Rise and shine," Clock loudly announced.

Ginny rubbed her eyes and she sat up in her bed. It felt like that she ha just shut her eyes. How did morning arrive so fast?

"I know, I know," she mumbled as she pushed the covers down. Ginny heard a rustling from beneath the covers. Out of the pile of blankets popped Willow's head. The little bunny didn't look happy at being disrupted from her nap. "Sorry Willow," Ginny softly apologized. "Go back to sleep." Willow shook her head that caused her long ears to flop from side to side before she crawled back under the blankets.

Ginny quickly got ready for work. She brought in some fresh fruit for Willow to eat and some wood for the rabbit to chew. Ginny looked at Willow snuggled in the covers and was glad that Willow had made herself at home. Ginny smiled at her new companion before she left.

Ginny arrived at the paper extra early. She wanted to talk to Miranda first thing. She quickly picked up her four hot cocoas before going directly to Miranda's office. When she got there she found Miranda once again consulting with her crystal ball.

"I brought you a hot cocoa," Ginny handed one of the warm mugs to Miranda.

"Oh great, and you got lots of whipped cream on mine," Miranda smiled, quickly taking a sip that left a bit of whipped cream on the tip of her nose. Ginny pointed to her own nose. Miranda tilted her head to the side, looking confused for a moment, before she realizing what Ginny was telling her.

"Oops," Miranda laughed as she wiped the whipped cream from her nose.

"So what is the ball telling you today?" Ginny asked Miranda. Miranda swore by her talent for reading the crystal ball, however, Ginny was still skeptical. "Are you still having visions of pregnant women?" Ginny asked. Miranda still was having visions of pregnant women.

"Actually," Miranda put down her cocoa and gazed back into her crystal ball. Ginny took a seat. "It's not random women Ginny," Miranda corrected her. "But a the same several women that I seem to keep catching glimpses of. It's very strange."

"Do you know any of the women?" Ginny asked.

"I don't think so. I can't really see their faces very well, I just have this intuition that they are the same women," Miranda explained.

"What else do you see?"

"It's very dark and gray around them and I never can see exactly what they are doing. But, the whole thing leaves me feeling uneasy like there is something terrible going to happen," Miranda paused looking uncomfortable. "That's cheerful," Ginny teased, trying to ease Miranda's concerns.

"No not really," Miranda continued, unaware of Ginny's joke. "And there is this man. He is very old, very thin and very wrinkled. He visits the women, all of them. There 's something not right about him, but I don't know what it is."

"I wish I could with this, but it is not my area of expertise." Ginny honestly said.

Miranda smiled as she pushed her crystal ball aside, "I know."

"I have something you need to hear. Wait right here," Ginny commanded, changing the subject. In a matter of seconds, she quickly ran to her office, grabbed the recorder, and was back again. "Sit still and listen to this."

Ginny played the tape. Miranda intently listened to the conversation between the muggle women. After the tape played Miranda just sat there looking dumbfounded.

"So what do you think?" Ginny asked.

"It's not possible," Miranda shook her head. "Not possible." Both women sat there in silence for a moment, desperately trying to come up with plausible explanations. After a few minutes, Miranda's eyes lit up, "I've got it!"

"Got what?"

"The enchantments, the enchantments on the recorders must be weakening. We better go and see Theo before more devices are seen!" Miranda concluded as she turned to leave, but quickly paused to look at Ginny, "Come on, come on!"

Ginny grabbed one of the hot chocolates and the tape recorder in a hurry, leaving the office and trying to catch up with Miranda.

Miranda rushed into Theo's office knocking over a stack of books on his desk. Ginny entered only moments late, but Theo didn't notice her. Theo had been tending to a broken wing of one of the owls and didn't appreciate Miranda's noisy entrance.

"For heavens sake," Theo complained. "It's only 7:37 in the morning," Theo scolded looking directly at Miranda. "What can possibly be that important?"

"Well Theo," Miranda started, but was a little embarrassed for disturbing him.

"Well?" Theo was agitated, struggling to keep the owl calm as he finished binding the wing.

Ginny walked around Miranda and offered Theo a cup of cocoa. His sour disposition softened as he accepted the chocolate. "Thanks," he mumbled as he took a sip." Miranda mouthed a silent thank you to Ginny. Ginny smiled.

"Didn't mean to disturb you, Theo," Ginny warmly smiled. "But we have something very usual for you to hear."

"We think there may be a problem with the enchantments on the recorders that our rats use," Miranda added.

Theo looked up and his expression was one of concern, "No that's not possible. What makes you think that?"

"Just sit down and listen," Ginny said as she played the tape for him.

"Oh my heavens, oh my heavens," Theo repeated over and over again as he walked over to where the rats slept. "None of you will be going anywhere today," He spoke gently to the rats. "Not until I check every recorder! I will be checking them all! Yes indeed I will."

Miranda quietly asked Theo, "Once you are certain that at least some are okay, can we put in first request to use them and take some rats out today? As many as you can?" Miranda got braver in her request. Miranda was certain that the problem with the recorders were enchantment related, but just in case she was wrong, she wanted as many rats on the muggle streets as possible. The sooner the better Miranda thought. Theo scowled at Miranda as if he could read her mind.

"Please Theo," Ginny pleaded, she agreed with Miranda line of thinking.

Theo looked at Ginny and his face softened, "I'll let you know if that is possible."

"Thanks Theo," both women said as they went back stairs to Miranda's office.

The time passed very slowly for Ginny and Miranda. They both tried to get involved with other projects. Miranda decided to use her crystal ball for some insight. Meanwhile Ginny was in her office attempting to file some research she no longer was using. Finally at 11:31 AM a lovely brown owl swooped in Ginny's office. The note was from Theo and he found that the enchantments seemed to be intact with the recorders; he would know for sure after 1:00 PM. If Ginny still wanted to take out some rats, it would be best to stop by then.

Ginny excited crumpled the note in her hand and ran into Miranda's office to tell her the news. Both women weren't sure if it was good news or bad, but agreed that neither of them would be very productive until after 1:00 PM. So, the women decided to go to The Commons for lunch. They decided to first stop upstairs first so they could requisition some muggle clothing. They agreed that in addition to sending out rats for facts, they'd both go as well.

"This story could be big," Miranda excitedly said as the women changed into muggle wear. Ginny chose her usual jeans and crop top. Miranda felt inspired and decided to go with a detective theme. She wore pleated trousers with penny loafers, an oxford shirt and a tweed jacket with patches over the elbows.

"Well don't you look like something from that muggle series about the famous detective and the Scotland Yard," Ginny teased. Ginny knew that Miranda read muggle books, especially good detective stories. Miranda felt them a valuable source on fact finding. They taught her to look at the less obvious which lead to better stories.

"His name is Sherlock Holmes," Miranda informed her. "Yes I supposed I do, my dear Watson!"

"Who is Watson?" Ginny asked, causing Miranda to laugh.

"Read the book," Miranda smiled as she turned to leave. Ginny grabbed a pile of muggle money and put it in her pocket before they left.

When the got to The Commons, Miranda commented how it was odd that the gray bunny wasn't there to greet them.

"My second mystery of the day perhaps?" Miranda mocked herself.

"Hardly," Ginny laughed and then explained about bringing Willow home and how the bunny seemed very comfortable. The women chatted about the bunny while they ordered their usual lunch and went to sit at their usual spot.

They both were extremely quiet as they ate. They both were thinking about the recorded muggle conversation, but couldn't talk about it because they had made the agreement that work was never to be discussed at lunch. It seemed like a great agreement when they made it, but at that particular moment, it was now driving them both nuts.

They both couldn't wait to get back to the office so they could discuss the muggle tape, so they finished up lunch early. The implications could be very serious, if indeed the enchantments on the recorder were in fact intact and the muggle woman could see it anyway. They both were certain that there was one interesting story to be had.

When they went through the teleport and got back to Rose Street, they noticed an old muggle man staring at them as they stepped out of the phone box. He was dressed in raggedy clothing and had a lot of stubble on his face. His hair looked dirty and he smelled of stale cigarettes. The most unusual thing about him was that he was holding an unusual walking cane. Ginny guessed he was a vagrant.

He continued to stare at them and at the phone box, which made no sense because as a muggle he couldn't possibly see the phone box.

Miranda finally spoke to him, "Are you lost? Can we help you?"

"Don't make sense," he said to himself as he scratched his head. "Don't make no sense. How'd you two ladies get in that broken telephone box?" Ginny and Miranda looked at each other in bewilderment. How could he see that?

"What did you say?" Miranda gasped.

"What exactly do you see?" Ginny stepped closer.

The man started getting nervous and clasped his walking stick to his chest. "I didn't do nuthin' wrong. I didn't do nuthin'. I'm just lookin'," He belched as he spoke and started backing up.

"It's okay," Miranda crooned trying to sooth him, ignoring the strong smell of stale tobacco. "We just want to talk to you."

"Tell us about what you see when you look there," Ginny pointed to the phone box. The man eventually seemed to relax. He walked up to the phone box and looked real closely at it. It was as if he was studying it.

"Well," he finally looked back at the women and said; "At first I thought it was a sick tree, but then..."

"But then what? " the women urged him.

"Well I was told to look again. Look for real," he shyly confessed as he scratched his forehead.

"Who told you to look?" Miranda asked.

"Naw, it sounds crazy," he stalled.

"Really, it's okay," Miranda reassured him.

"We'll believe you," Ginny added.

The man stood there for a few minutes before he held out his hand showing them the walking stick that he had been clasping so tightly. The women didn't know what he wanted from them or expected them to see. He must have noticed their expressions because he then said, "Look at it look closely."

The two women brought their faces close to the walking cane. The cane itself was made of mahogany and it had a gold handle. The handle was a serpent's tail that wrapped upwards until you got to the top, which was the serpent's head. The serpent's eyes were the reddest rubies that Ginny ever saw. As Ginny turned her head to say something to Miranda she could have sworn she saw something move and heard a hiss. Ginny quickly darted her head back to the direction she heard the hissing and all she saw was the cane's handle, which wasn't moving or making a sound.

"So it spoke to you to," the old man said to Ginny. She stopped looking at the cane and turned to the old man.

"No it did not," she lied.

Miranda walked over to Ginny and whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but we've got to get that cane from him," Ginny warned.

"I know," Miranda agreed. "That is no ordinary walking cane."

Miranda walked back over to the old man and asked him if she could see his cane.

"Nooooo!" he backed away. "It's my cane! It's my cane. The lady with the big belly gave it to me!" Miranda backed up as if she was kicked in the stomach.

"What did you say?" Miranda looked pale.

"The lady with the big belly. She's not fat except in her belly," He told Miranda. All Miranda could think of was her visions in her crystal ball and wondered if this had something to do with it. He continued, "She gave it to me. It was a present and it ain't nice to give away a present..." he then paused for a moment "... besides...what would I get if I gave it to ya' anyway?"

Miranda looked over her clothing as she tried to decide what she could trade. That is when Ginny spoke up, "How about some money?"

"Yeah, money. We could buy it from you," Miranda nodded and smiled at Ginny for her quick thinking.

"Well, I dunno...." the man shuffled his feet "...how much money?"

"How much do you want?" Miranda asked.

"Well..."

"How about fifty pounds," Ginny offered.

"Fifty pounds?" the man got excited. "I could by two or more of these canes for fifty pounds! Ya' gotta deal." He put his hand out for the cash. Miranda held her hand for the cane. The old man eventually gave Miranda the cane the same time Ginny handed over the cash.

Once the cane left the man's hand, she stumbled backwards and shook his head. "What am I doin' 'ere?" he asked. Who arya?" He looked at the women.

"You don't know us?" Ginny asked.

"Never saw ya' before in me life," he honestly answered.

"What do you see when you look at that?" Miranda asked pointing to the phone box.

"What arya' daft lady?" The old man chuckled, shaking his head. "That's a dead tree. You must be a nutter!" He stumbled and laughed as he walked away.

Ginny and Miranda looked at each other and then at the cane that Miranda was now holding.

"Miranda, this is weird," Ginny excitedly said.

"Oh yes it is!" Miranda agreed. "This could be very, very dangerous."

"Something strange is definitely going on," Ginny agreed.

"I think we may need some help," Miranda said. "Do you remember anyone who is in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?"

"Ah, yes I do," Ginny looked away as she remembered what happened to Percy at the big pow-wow many months ago.

"Oh yes," Miranda laughed while she remembered the man with the green and gold face. "The poor chap who got your brother's exploder worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, didn't he? Well, we need to look up who he is and I'll make an appointment with him. Do you still have your old notes?"

"I don't need my notes for this. I know who he is," Ginny shared.

"Really? Who is he?" Miranda was still smiling at the memory of this man.

"His name is Percy Weasley," Ginny said as she watched the color drain from Miranda's face.

"Another brother?" Miranda choked.

"I think you'll find he's very different from Fred and George," Ginny tried to explain.

"I sure hope so," Miranda looked doubtful.

"Let's get this thing out of here," Ginny said wanting to change the subject away from her brothers.

"I agree," Miranda said.

"Well, I think we've got yet another mystery for you Detective," Ginny teased.

"I do believe you are correct my dear Ginny. I do believe we do," Miranda tease back as they walked back to work.

Neither woman explored muggle London for clues that day. When they got back to the office, Ginny and Miranda went up to see Theo. Theo gave Ginny six rats that she was able to send out for leads. And Miranda got an owl from Theo so she could send a post to Percy immediately. Within the hour Miranda's owl returned with a response from Percy. Ginny and Miranda were to meet him at the Ministry tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM.

Miranda rushed over to Ginny's office to tell her. Miranda also told Ginny that she didn't think it was a good idea to leave the walking cane in the office overnight. Ginny offered to take it home with her and keep an eye on it. Miranda agreed that would be best.

When Ginny's rats returned later that day, she listened to every tape very carefully. To her disappointment, none of them had any leads.

Ginny threw her cloak and the walking cane on the kitchen table and plopped down on the sofa for a minute when she got home. She was very tired after such an eventful day. The house was very quiet; Fred and George were both downstairs working in their store and she was enjoying a few moments of silence.

After a few minutes of relaxing, she grabbed her cloak and went to her room. Willow popped her head out from the covers. Ginny went over to pet her and saw that Willow had eaten all her fruit.

"Poor thing, are you hungry?" Ginny asked her furry friend. Willow wiggled her nose. "Then why don't I get you something to eat," Ginny said before going to the kitchen.

Ginny quickly made a plate of greens and carrots for Willow. On the way back to her room, she noticed she had left the cane in the living room. She quickly picked it up and took it with her before Fred and George got home and found it.

Ginny entered her room with the plate of vegetables in one hand and the walking cane in the other. As soon as she entered the room, Willow jumped off the bed and starting thumping her back legs against the floor. Her little legs made a loud sound as she thumped away.

"Oh!" Ginny was amused. "Is my Willow hungry?" Ginny thought Willow was excited to get her veggies. Ginny moved closer to Willow so that she could put down the plate of food. As Ginny got closer, the rabbit began to thump louder and even began to grunt. Ginny quickly realized that something was wrong.

Willow suddenly lunged across the floor toward Ginny, knocking the plate out of Ginny's hand while still grunting and trying to attack the walking cane in Ginny's other hand.

"Willow," Ginny began. "What is wrong with you? Leave this alone." Ginny then rested the cane against her wall. Willow ran right in front of the cane and continued thumping and grunting. Ginny watched the bunny for a few moments in disbelief. Willow wasn't backing down.

"Okay, okay Willow calm yourself," Ginny gently spoke to Willow. "I will move this big, bad cane." As Ginny walked toward the cane, Willow ran on top of her feet as if to stop her. "Silly girl," Ginny laughed. "I am moving it for you!" As soon as Ginny grabbed the cane and Willow backed off, Ginny could have sworn she heard hissing coming from the cane again. At the exactly same moment Willow resumed thumping her hind legs. Ginny looked closely at the cane. It looked just as it did earlier, a mahogany stick with a golden serpent as the handle. Ginny was convinced that she was just hearing things and decided it would be best to hide the cane in a closet in the hallway.

As soon as she went back to her room, Willow came right over to her and began rubbing her head against Ginny's feet. Ginny bent down and gathered the vegetables that had fallen and sat down with Willow. She stroked her bunny as she happily munched her veggies. It was hard to believe that this was the same rabbit that was crazed only moments before.

Ginny was very concerned about recent events. She knew that big trouble could be brewing. She had this unsettling feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She decided that she had to look at this like an adventure like a certain friend of hers from Hogwarts faced regularly. Normally she would have scolded herself for thinking about her friend, but after the strange day she had, she was glad to have at least one thing she could think about that would distract her.