Emily Potter - Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows

Chapter 9: To The Belly of The Beast

The sound of paper slapping the grand oak study table snapped Draco back into reality, lazily dragging a spoonful of yogurt into his mouth. Since the first floor of Malfoy Manor had served Voldemort and his company, many of the furniture had reeked of death and decay. The mother and son took the chance of making the upstairs study into their own dining area.

Narcissa Malfoy slumped into an armchair after throwing the Daily Prophet in front of the pale boy, taking with her a bowl of sliced fruit. "This has your friends written all over it... I dare say that I'm in awe of them, but also in fear. I know that the dark lord is not pleased with this outcome."

"When was he ever pleased." He said testily, ending his breakfast with a sharp clang of his spoon against the crystal goblet. As the days pass by, Narcissa was profoundly happy that her son had his ways to defy Voldemort. He led a life of being a double agent to the Order of the Phoenix, and during his moments of confinement to his room where he blew the whistle to Eleanor Malfoy, Narcissa found herself wishing that Draco had left her instead of leading a death wish kind of life.

"I have to go now." Draco levitated his dirty dishes to the study's washroom, also known as their kitchen sink where they could charm their dinnerware with a self-cleaning spell. He anxiously checked his watch as he scurried off across the room, hastily kissing his mother's forehead before he walked out.

~

"This is a wizarding neighborhood, why can't we just use magic?" Daphne complained, swatting away at the windshield to clear out the thick layer of snow and leaves.

"We've already attracted too much attention with the whole, and quite literal, breaking and entering the last time we were here." Emily answered, keeping an eye at the children playing in the yard at the house across the street while she plucked leaves from the windshield wipers. "Also, we're not in disguise. This is a big enough risk as it is – " she paused, taken aback by Daphne's ravenous beating at the car.

"Daph,"

"What?"

"What are you using?"

The blonde looked at her hand, shrugging. "Some newspaper, I found it lodged under the car's front tire. Is it yours?"

Emily took the rolled-up newspaper from her hand, damp from the snow and battered by the blunt force. Upon seeing that the windshield was indeed free from any obstruction, the trio ran inside the car and waited in anticipation.

"I thought I saw something putrid." The girl muttered, untying the piece of twine that held the newspaper in a cylinder-like shape. Emily unfolded it and looked at the bottom of the front page where a photo of the newly appointed minister and his fellow employees stood in front of the fountain with secretive smiles. One face that popped up more than the others was a woman, despite seeing the photo in grey, the three knew to be wearing her signature shade of alarming fuchsia paired with an ugly bonnet on top of her froggy-head.

Everyone in the car sighed at their bad luck. It was not because of the obviously corrupt ministry officials lined up in the picture, but because of what someone was wearing during the pictorial. After days of searching, it was right there under their nose – glimmering sinisterly around a fat neck, nestled atop a ridiculously pink-clad torso.

Emily let the paper fall on Daphne's lap, delving into her pockets for the car keys. "We need to go to the Ministry." She shoved the key into the ignition, her anxiety subsiding as the motor rose to life, the subtle vibration soothing her. The girl sitting in the passenger seat clucked her tongue, pushing the newspaper into the glove compartment. "What's next? Shall we head onwards to Azkaban, tame a few dementors, and ride them on our parade to Hogwarts?"

"I just can't believe we need to go to Umbridge." She said, her finger nails digging deep into the leather covering of the wheel. Blaise squeezed himself between them, his head almost bumping into the rearview mirror. Daphne had to elbow him to back up a smidge. "What's your plan, Em?"

Emily awkwardly looked at Blaise, keeping her focus on the road despite him and Daphne acting like bored children stuck on a road trip. "I'm thinking about Daphne and I using glamour charms, we could mimic similar features of some ministry officials. The magic would last longer than Polyjuice, and it would be easier to refresh the spell. You three know we have a limited supply of the potion."

"So, Blaise would be the only one using Polyjuice?" Daphne asked, cranking her window down for some fresh cold air. The Potter girl nodded, explaining that he could still trigger his Trace and could blow their cover. "But in the event that we need to fight someone off... then by all means, Zabini, use magic. The Trace won't matter anymore by then. In the meantime, we're driving to London and find yet another secluded spot."

"Another seedy motel, you mean."

"Yes, Blaise." Emily answered. "Tomorrow morning, we'll hang around near the entry way to the ministry and stalk three ministry officials. We need to study them, but most importantly – Blaise needs to get hair off of his target."

Daphne emitted a low whistle, pouting. "Blaise is sort of our stop-watch. One look at him and we'll know our time's up – "

"If it comes to that, we'd have to shoot him with a glamour charm." Emily retorted. "Drastic measures."

He scoffed, whacking the back of the blonde's head with his hand. "Oh, so I'm the bloody grim reaper, then?"

"It's not my fault you're younger than us." Daphne snapped back.

Blaise turned to Emily, gently poking her shoulder for her attention. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we have a group of impeccably interesting people on our tails? The French girls said they're on their way to find us."

"Yes, but if they're as smart as I think they are, they won't follow us into the ministry." She said with a crooked smile. "That's just suicidal." Blaise laughed, finally settling himself back into his seat. "If that's suicidal, then I don't know what the hell we just planned to do."