Sanctuary

Chapter 53

Friday 27th October, 9:00 am

Peering out from the shadowed alcove he'd concealed himself in, Mundungus observed the group of Gryffindors leaving the dungeon room and breaking into a jog as they headed towards the stairs.

Pulling out his wand, he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and crept along behind them as they made their way up to the Entrance Hall and began the laborious climb to the seventh floor. Black was clutching a crystal in his hand. But since they weren't allowed to take them inside the Common Rooms, Mundungus was willing to bet his meagre life savings they would be handing off their prize to an older student. Chances were good that said student would then travel to their camp alone, or perhaps with a single companion, and that would be his opportunity.

When the group reached the portrait which he knew hid the entrance to Gryffindor's Common Room—everyone knew where their Common Room was, they barely hid it at all—Mundungus hung back. Most of the group entered, but Black and his friends remained outside, waiting. Less than a minute passed before the portrait swung open again and two taller Gryffindors emerged. Black handed the crystal over to the male of the pair and said something. The female responded, and the male nodded, putting the crystal into the pocket of his robes. Perfect.

Black and his friends disappeared through the hole behind the portrait, and the two older Gryffindors started down the corridor towards him. Mundungus swiftly pulled out his wand and lifted the charm that was keeping him hidden. He'd need to be visible for this. Ducking out from the alcove he was watching from, he strode in their direction, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor, and collided with the male Gryffindor prefect head-on, sending him sprawling to the floor.

'Ah, sorry. Didn't see you there,' Mundungus said, slipping his hand into the pocket of the boy's robes. He wrapped his fingers around the sharp edges of the crystal and pulled his hand back out, shoving it quickly into his own pocket, before covering the action by scrambling to his feet and offering his other hand to help the boy up. 'Did I hurt you?'

The boy shook his head and took Mundungus' outstretched hand. 'No, I'm fine. You should watch where you're going, though.'

'You're right. No 'arm done, though. 's'all good. All good.' Mundungus said, pulling the boy up, though really he did all the work, being rather too large for Mundungus' small muscles. 'Must dash. I'm in a bit of a hurry. You know 'ow it is.' he said, before waving cheerily and striding off out of sight.

Mundungus grinned to himself and slipped his hand back into his pocket, feeling the cold surface of the crystal resting against his palm. That couldn't have gone more smoothly. But there was no time to gloat; he needed to disappear. The Gryffindors could notice they'd been robbed at any moment, and it would be immediately apparent who the culprit was. With that in mind, he spent ten minutes hurrying around corners, taking secret passages he knew about, and descending every staircase he came to, putting as much distance between them and him as he could. Once satisfied that they wouldn't be able to find him easily, he made his way back to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

After tapping on the barrel to open it, he yelled down the tunnel, 'Got us another crystal, Prim!' A few minutes later, the Hufflepuff prefect emerged, and Mundungus pulled the crystal out and held it up. The light from the wall-torches danced along the glittering edges, causing eerie reddish shadows to play across her face.

Primrose grinned. 'Oh, fabulous. Well done, Dung.' She took the crystal and examined it. 'I thought Gryffindor had already lost theirs to Ravenclaw.'

Mundungus nodded. 'They 'ad. This'n 'ere were Slytherin's. The Gryffindors won it, and I... well. Let's say I commandeered it.'

She laughed and winked at him. 'Nice. That means we're drawing with Ravenclaw, then. Unless something else has happened, we haven't heard about yet.'