The Last Horcrux

Missing!

Aunt Spider was very thin and her skin was dry and papery. She wore wire rimmed spectacles. Her hair was white and wisps of it flew out of the round bun in the back of her head. Aunt Pepper was short and round. She had a cap of tight grey curls and didn't take any nonsense from anyone. They were Mr. Sev's aunties, and they had run a hair salon in Paris before they retired to this lonely island in the middle of the sea. The little island was heavily warded and Mr. Sev always said that it was the safest place in Britain. They came there for Christmas breakfast every year, and the old ladies often babysat the children at the full moon.

Aunt Pepper and Aunt Spider served Gavin cauliflower scones and cocoa and put him to bed in a small room at the top of the house that looked out over the sea. He lay in bed and watched the moon drift in and out of the clouds. Moonlight glinted off the Ford Anglia. Mr. Sev and Mr. Moony had left it parked outside the house, in case of emergencies. They had ridden broomsticks back to the mainland to start searching for Oakley.

Gavin couldn't sleep. He scratched his knee. He heard Phoenix crying, the adults stirring to tend to her. He felt itchy and restless. Where was Oakley? Where were Mr. Sev and Mr. Moony? He wished Amanda were here. They would be able to figure out something to do together, they always had. But she was far away at Hogwarts. Biscuit slept on the floor beside him, dreaming dog dreams. His feet moved in his sleep, as if he were running.

Gavin heard a rustling noise in the room. Biscuit lifted his head and whined softly.

A tiny man, shaped like a potato with legs, stood on the wooden floor boards in the moonlight.

"Who're you?" Gavin asked, sitting up.

"I'm Dandylion,'' the little man announced. He scrambled up the bedpost and over the covers until he was sitting on Gavin's stomach. "At your service," he added, sweeping his hat off his head in a low bow.

"You're a garden gnome,'' said Gavin. "What're you doing inside?"

"Where's Oakley?" Dandylion demanded.

"How do you know Oakley?"

"He's my friend."

"Your friend?"

"From the garden at Spinner's End," said the little man impatiently.

"I've never seen you before," said Gavin. "What're you doing here?"

"I sneaked aboard the car when Oakley went missing,'' said Dandylion. "I wanted to see what was going on."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No."

"What good are you then?"

"I'm plenty good," replied the little man. "Do you have any food?"

"Nope," Gavin replied. He lay down and closed his eyes.

"Wait!" Dandylion said. "There's something else! Something important!"

"What?" said Gavin, opening one eye and squinting at the gnome.

"It's.....well. It's an object. It belonged to.....to the Dark Lord."

"Voldemort?" said Gavin, sitting up again. From the floor, Biscuit whimpered.

"That's right," said Dandylion. "The big, bad prince of darkness hisself. Don't make me say the name. But he left something there, something secret, something bad. He gave it to the perfessor's mum a long time ago."

"Mr. Sev?" said Gavin.

"Yeah," said Dandylion. "Him. But you shouldn't leave it there. It's not safe. They want it, see. They want it to bring the Dark Lord back."