Harry Potter looked across the Longbottoms’ large oak dining table as Hannah was trying her explain what Astoria Malfoy had confided to her during lunch. He watched Hannah’s face as she talked to both her husband Neville on her left and to him and Ron across the table. Harry watched, Ron took scanty notes on a scroll with a Muggle pen.
–She was so afraid of Goyle. He claimed he could reach Scorpius at school. She was also afraid about what Draco might be forced to do to protect his family.†Hannah was compulsively twisting a napkin in her hands as if the cloth represented the anguish she had seen in Malfoy’s face.
Neville reached over to cover Hannah’s hands with one of his own. He gave her a comforting smile and turned toward his two friends. –Mundungus Fletcher, is he really dead?â€
Ron looked over at Harry and replied, –We’ve checked with our normal sources and no one has seen Dung for a week or two. We know he was under the weather the last time anyone saw him. Also, he hasn’t been seen at the Hog’s Head for almost a month. He used to hold ‘court’ there in the back room.â€
Harry looked over at Hannah; he knew she was not one to embellish what she had been told. However, Astoria might be a different story. He had got to know the Malfoys. The boy, Scorpius, was a basically a good kid. He was a smart, loyal friend to both his son and niece. Draco and Astoria had been friendly, but had always seemed to be on guard to him. He and Ginny had talked about the how Draco seemed to be forcing his attempts at friendship and how Astoria seemed to be more ‘real’ in her relationships. And also, there was the little war of words between Ron and Draco which had annoyed both Hermione and himself.
Harry could not see Astoria being afraid of Draco. She knew him and had stuck by him in the bad days. He could see her lying to protect her family or if Draco had convinced her of the need to do so. However, what if it was true? Or mostly true. He had to know for certain about Dung and Goyle before he acted on this lead. If what Astoria said was absolutely true, a wizard criminal turf war could be breaking out all over England. Also, Dung had reined in many of the hotheads getting them into non-violent activities. And the young hoods he couldn’t tone down, he would set up to be caught in the act. Without Dung’s steadying hand on the tiller, the peace that had been on both magical and Muggle streets could be shattered: not by violence based on blood, like the Death Eaters, but by violence based on opportunity and greed.
Ron leaned forward towards the Longbottoms and said, –I don’t think this intruder is after Scorpius or the other kids. It seems that the intruder was mere meters away from the whole lot and let them be. I think that if Goyle really made the threat, he’s using the possibility of the intruder to bully the Malfoys for his own ends. Or Malfoy is having his wife lie for some unknown reason. And if it’s Slytherin vs. Slytherin, the truth may be impossible to find through all of the layers of intrigue.â€
Harry withheld his smile. Count on Ron to say what exactly what he was thinking.
Hannah disagreed, –You didn’t see how scared she looked. How disgusted she looked when she mentioned Goyle’s name.â€
–Ron could be right, dear,†said Neville as he squeezed her hands.
–I don’t think she would lie to me,†Hannah replied.
–Hannah, it could be that what she told you wasn’t a lie. She might have been told a tale by Draco,†explained Harry. –And I also think that most mothers, Slytherin or not, would have no issue in stretching the truth in order to protect their child.â€
Hannah peeked into the wicker basket which held a cooing Alice, who seemed fascinated by her recent discovery of her feet. Hannah’s lower lip disappeared under the top teeth as she nodded her head, –Lying would be the least that I’d do. I still think she must truly feel that fear to have been so convincing.â€
Hogwarts
Freddy Weasley had been able to reschedule the tryouts to after lunch on Sunday. The flags at the top of the stands were changing from hanging limply to standing straight out, due to an intermittent crosswind. The team stepped out of the changing room and entered the half filled stands. The Gryffindor tryouts were on such a nice day and it would be the first chance for the students leisurely chat with friends, scream or laugh, and see or be seen by the rest of the school. And in between conversations, they would observe the tryouts.
Fred looked over all of those trying out for the team. Standing under the hoops in front of the sand pits were three students: sixth-year Andrew Irvine, third-year Mary Reilly and Fred’s cousin, Rose.
Standing behind him were the Beaters - Eric Woolingsbee, Jimber Dokes, a fourth-year named Paul Haney, and a sixth-year called Stephen Lewis
The crowd standing in the middle of the pitch was the made up of possible Chasers: Tony Thistlecrowne, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Hillary Russell a brunette fifth-year, Aaron Allensby a third-year, and seventh-year Edwin Hills. Fred looked at the crew again and realized that somebody was missing from the group of Chasers. That someone was Kitty-Kat Jones.
Fred turned to his left to discover James Potter and Kaitlin Jones doing what they were almost always doing: arguing. Fred shook his head and yelled over to the bickering duo. –Kitty-Kat, Chasers are over there.â€
James turned to his cousin. –She’s not trying out for Chaser. She says she is trying out for Seeker!â€
–What!?†asked Fred.
–You heard him. I’m the best Seeker on the team,†replied Kaitlin in a very business-like tone of voice.
–Listen, Kaitlin, you and James are the best natural fliers in the whole school. We need both of you in the sky at the same time,†begged Fred.
–Sure, Panda Boy, go down there and play Chaser. You might be able to beat Thistlecrowne to join Malfoy and your brother.†Kaitlin gave the two cousins a lop-sided smile.
–Listen, I don’t care who’s Chaser or Seeker. You decide. However, you can only make the team as the one position you sign up for,†asserted Fred Weasley.
–Really, what position are you trying for?†prompted Jones.
Fred was becoming very annoyed with the girl and she was enjoying all of this too much. –What?†he asked.
He looked at the groups of players. If he played Chaser again, it meant he would be without Malfoy and either James or Kaitlin. And if James and Kaitlin came to their senses he would be without Albus. He needed their offense. He realized the only answer was, –Beater. I’m trying out for Beater.†Fred’s answer sounded very hollow to all three people who were close enough to hear him say it.
Fred decided to run the tryouts for Chaser and Keeper at the same time. Fred watched Rose get to every shot at her hoops. Unfortunately, she didn’t stop every shot, as a couple of the balls trickled through the hoops after glancing off of her fingers. Rose also blocked more shots than she caught. If a shot is deflected, someone has to get to the Quaffle. It could be a Gryffindor or it could be the other team which gave them a second chance to score. Also if a Keeper caught the shot, it could lead to a quick pass to the Chasers and an easy scoring opportunity.
Mary Reilly didn’t get to all of the shots like Rose did. However the shots she stopped were almost always captured by her and she had a strong arm to make a long release pass. Rose was announced as the team Keeper with Reilly as the first reserve.
Among the Chasers, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter were superb. Fred had split Scorpius and Rose. He was worried about how their feelings might affect their performance. Fred had promised Thistlecrowne the position, but it was a close thing with Hillary Russell. She was very lithe on her broom. She didn’t look like she was flying hard, but she seemed to always be in the right place at the right time. However, she didn’t have the arm strength for her shots that Thistlecrowne did. Fred swallowed hard and announced Tony, Albus and Scorpius. He went over to Hillary and talked to her. He told her it was a near thing and he hoped she would be the team’s top reserve. Hillary smiled and moved her Gwenog-Jones-style platted hair to the side. For a second, Freddy lost his train of thought.
Fred next combined the Beaters and the Seekers. The Seekers would be chasing a Snitch, while trying to avoid all of the Beaters trying to hit them with Bludgers. Fred announced a best of five captures for the position. James almost had the first Snitch until Woolingsbee practically unseated him from his broom and Kaitlin claimed the prize.
Fred was able to pelt Kitty-Kat with two perfectly timed shots to allow James to win on his second attempt. The next two captures were a combination of hand-to-hand combat and aerial ballet James caught number three and Kitty-Kat grabbed number four.
The fifth catch took almost an hour. Kaitlin almost got a quick capture, but Jimber caused her to dodge a shot and fumble the catch. James had to sloth grip roll his way past Haney’s best shot of the night. Finally, Kaitlin took one of Eric’s blasts to the ribs, but still grabbed the Golden Snitch.
The Gryffindor team would be Rose Weasley, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Tony Thistlecrowne, Eric Woolingsbee, Kaitlin Jones and the Captain, Fred Weasley. Fred looked at his team; it contained Kitty-Kat and three of her kittens. He wasn’t certain who he was maddest at: Kaitlin or James for putting their little feud above the team. Since blood was thicker than water, he decided to blame Jones for the mess.
James, who had helped Freddy with the casket of practice balls before the practice, disappeared after Kaitlin’s last capture. Mumbling about always being left alone to do the dirty work, he began to lock down the first Bludger when a pair of hands offered him the second Bludger. Fred looked up to see that the hands belonged to Hillary Russell.
–Thanks,†said Fred Weasley.
–No problem, you looked like you needed some help,†she replied, with a smile that lit up her suntanned face.
Fred found the smile contagious and returned it to her. It took the two of them almost all of the remaining sunlight to finish filling the remaining balls into the container.
London
The bell tinkled, drawing Draco’s head up from filling the order from the Weasley joke shop; he placed the small tweezers back into the bottle of explosive powder and placed the stopper in it. Before him stood a non-descript man in his thirties, green robe, long brown hair pulled back into a pony-tail. He looked to the sides of the room and asked, –We alone?â€
Draco took a deep breath so Astoria would hear the trigger phrase, –It’s just me and the little missus in the back.†The phrase was so un-Malfoy-like that it almost stuck to the roof of his mouth. The absurdity of it had been the reason that Lucius had chosen it.
–Draco, I’m going to be busy with this Scamander potion for the next half hour. If you need something let me know?†Astoria called giving the expected answer.
–I’ve got a request from a mutual friend,†the customer replied as he looked through the little window between the store front and the work room. The man smiled as he heard the familiar sound of a cauldron being stirred. He pulled his wand out of a wrist holster and pointed it over his shoulder, flicking it to lock the front door.
–That’s not necessary,†said Draco.
–I say what’s necessary while I’m here. Understand?†the customer’s voice seemed to enjoy the implied threat. Draco hid his disdain for the amateur’s attempt to scare him.
Draco reached over to the counter top to pick up a pad to record the order. Before he could grasp the forms, the customer had summoned it over to his non-wand hand. –No records of this order or any future order from our friend.â€
–Well, I hope it’s a small order. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be,†Draco offered. The more pathetic the interloper thought Draco was the sloppier he would be.
–You are to brew a flagon of Polyjuice, a double batch of Veritaserum, a single batch of the Draught of Living Death, and a triple batch of Achlys Breath.â€
Draco was confused. He had never heard of Achlys Breath. –Sorry, I’m unfamiliar with the last item to be brewed.â€
–You’re a smart boy; you’ll figure it out. Just don’t breathe it in or it’ll be the last breath you take,†the smug face grew even smugger, if that was possible.
Draco felt embolden by the expression. –How can I tell how much you will owe, if I don’t know the ingredients of this Achlys poison? Also, I will need a name so my wife will know who will be picking up the order.â€
–Nice try, the boss warned me about you, Malfoy,†chuckled the stranger. –He’ll send someone over with the payment and to pick up the order on Monday morning.â€
Draco did not have to fake his concern. –We can’t finish brewing Polyjuice by Monday. Our ‘friend’ knows that,†Draco shot back.
–Well you’ll have to explain that to the next bloke who comes a calling.†And with that, he flicked his wand over his shoulder and the door unlocked. He walked out of the door of the potion shop and into the shadow of the building across the street. Draco could see him sizing up the other shoppers in the Alley. After about three minutes, he turned and walked up the street towards Knockturn Alley.
About twenty seconds behind the man, Draco noticed a young man with spiky hair also heading towards Knockturn Alley. So the messenger had a back-up too. He just hoped his father was as cunning as he thought he was.