Emma Potter; Going to War

7: Events Explained

"Your--"

"My dear old mum, yeah," said Sirius. "We've been tryingto get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick,before they all wake up again."

 "But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked,bewildered, as we went through the door from the hall and led theway down a flight of narrow stone steps, the others just behind us. 

"Hasn't anyone told you? This was my parents' house," said Sirius."But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledorefor headquarters — about the only useful thing I've been able to do."

 I, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard andbitter Sirius's voice sounded. We followed our godfather to the bottomof the stairs and through a door leading into the basement kitchen.

 It was scarcely less gloomy than the hall above, a cavernous roomwith rough stone walls. Most of the light was coming from a large fireat the far end of the room. A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air likebattle fumes, through which loomed the menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark ceiling. Many chairs hadbeen crammed into the room for the meeting and a long wooden tablestood in the middle of the room, littered with rolls of parchment, goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what appeared to be rags. 

Mr.Weasley and his eldest son, Bill, were talking quietly with their headstogether at the end of the table.Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. Her husband, a thin, balding, redhaired man, who wore horn-rimmed glasses, looked around andjumped to his feet. 

"Harry!Emma!" Mr. Weasley said, hurrying forward to greet us andshaking each of our hands in turn vigorously. "Good to see you!"

 Over his shoulder I saw Bill, who still wore his long hair in aponytail, hastily rolling up the lengths of parchment left on the table. 

"Journey all right, Harry, Emma?" Bill called, trying to gather up twelvescrolls at once. "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland,then?" 

"He tried," said Tonks, striding over to help Bill and immediatelysending a candle toppling onto the last piece of parchment. "Ohno — sorry —" 

"Here, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, sounding exasperated, and she repaired the parchment with a wave of her wand: In the flash of lightcaused by Mrs. Weasley's charm, I caught a glimpse of whatlooked like the plan of a building.Mrs. Weasley had seen me looking. She snatched the plan off thetable and stuffed it into Bill's heavily laden arms.

 "This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly at the end ofmeetings," she snapped before sweeping off toward an ancient dresserfrom which she started unloading dinner plates.Bill took out his wand, muttered "Evanesco!" and the scrollsvanished. 

"Sit down,Emma, Harry," said Sirius. "You've met Mundungus, haven'tyou?"

The thing I had taken to be a pile of rags gave a prolonged,grunting snore and then jerked awake. 

"Some'n say m' name?" Mundungus mumbled sleepily. "I 'greewith Sirius. . . ." 

He raised a very grubby hand in the air as though voting, hisdroopy, bloodshot eyes unfocused. Ginny giggled. I but my lip to hide my smile.

"The meeting's over, Dung," said Sirius, as they all sat downaround him at the table. "Harry and Emma've arrived." 

"Eh?" said Mundungus, peering balefully at Harry and ,e through hismatted ginger hair. "Blimey, so 'e 'as. Yeah . . . you all right, 'arry, Emma?" 

"Yeah," said Harry. 

Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still staring atHarry and me, and pulled out a grimy black pipe. He stuck it in his mouth,ignited the end of it with his wand, and took a deep pull on it. Greatbillowing clouds of greenish smoke obscured him in seconds.