❝𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?❞
❝𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦.❞
𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 had a few, perhaps a little or more than a palm of qualms in his life. First up was the whole "The Boy-Who-Lived" shenanigans, then there was an ungodly am...
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XXXVI. A DEAL NEVER TO BE MADE
━━━━━━
"I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places"
THE TRIP TO LONDON WAS all and all smooth, especially for Marjorie, who found comfort in being able to see the thestral she was riding. Her slight fear of heights was tempered by the reassurance of being able to see what she was flying on. However, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron didn't share the same sentiments.
Luckily, their journey came to an end quite quickly the moment the bright and orange lights came into sight — at least, that was what she was going to assume anyway the moment she felt her thestral touch down. She opened her eyes and sure enough, solid ground was beneath her feet once more. Not long, Ron and Neville touched down on either side of her as well.
"Well, that wasn't all that bad!" said Marjorie, attempting to slide off as gracefully as she could.
"Of course you would say that. You spent majority of it closing your eyes," stated Ginny as she and Hermione simultaneously slid off their mounts as well. They had done it more gracefully than Ron did, that's for sure, as he almost tripped on his own feet. Neville jumped down, shaking, but Luna dismounted smoothly.
"Where do we go from here, then?" she asked Harry in a politely interested voice, as though this was all a rather interesting day-trip.
"Over here," he said. He gave his thestral a quick, grateful pat, then led the way quickly to the battered telephone box and opened the door. "Come on!" he urged the others as they hesitated.
Ron and Ginny marched in obediently; Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Marjorie squashed themselves in after them; Harry took one glance back at the thestrals, now foraging for scraps of rotten food inside the dumpster, then forced himself into the box after Marjorie.
"Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!" he said.
Ron did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial. As it whirred back into place the cool female voice sounded inside the box, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."
"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Marjorie Evermore, Hermione Granger," Harry said very quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood... We're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"
"Thank you," said the cool female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."
Seven badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. Hermione scooped them up and handed them mutely to Marjorie over Ginny's head; she glanced at the topmost one.
