Disclaimer (and this goes for the rest of the chapters): I do not own Harry Potter. Characters' names (except for one character I made up in the fourteenth chapter) belong to J.K. Rowling.
-Chapter One-
The Stolen Item
'What?' Harry asked, half asleep, half awake, at the sound that had woke him up. He fumbled around on his desk for his glasses, put them on, and staggered sleepily over to the window. His snowy owl, Hedwig, was holding a letter with a small parcel attached. 'Oh, Hedwig...What're you doing here at this time of night?' Harry looked at the clock. He had officially been fifteen for two hours now. He opened the window, let Hedwig in, and relieved her of the parcel that was around her legs. She flew over to the bed, dropped the letter, and flew over to give Harry an affectionate nip on the ear.
He opened up the letter. It was from Sirius Black! Only two years ago had he found out that he had a Godfather. But he hardly got to see him, as Sirius was on the run from the Azkaban (wizard prison) guards. He opened the letter, and read:
Dear Harry,
How are you holding up? Sorry I didn't get back to you for so long.
Yes, Buckbeak is doing fine. Found himself a mate, in fact! Don't worry,
I've been taking good care of him.
How're Ron and Hermione? Good, I expect. Here are the answers to your
Questions; Yes, I'm down south at the moment. I just keep moving, as quietly,
And as quickly as possible, without being caught. Did you get the cookies I sent for
Christmas? Sorry about them being burnt-I hadn't performed that spell in quite
Some time! Well, I'd best be on my way. Let me know if you need anything!
Sirius
Harry sat down on the bed, and opened up the parcel. Inside were two, brand-new eagle-feather quills, and some bottles of butterbeer.
'Mmm!' he said silently at the sight of the butterbeer. Harry had once had butterbeer in Hogsemeade, the wizarding village, a few years ago, and immediately took liking to it. There was a loud snort from the room on his right. It was definitely the sound of Uncle Vernon's loud snoring. You could hear it a mile away.
Harry thought he should probably go back to sleep, so he hid the quills and butterbeer under the loose floor-board, and hopped back onto his bed. But before he had the chance to get back to sleep, there was a rather large BANG outside the house. He quickly put on a housecoat and shoes, walked downstairs, and outside.
Standing there, in the middle of the street, was the Knight Bus. Harry had encountered this mysterius bus once before, while running away from his Aunt and Uncle's house. There, who should appear, but Fred and George Weasley, the older twin brothers of his best friend Ron.
'Hiya, Harry!' Fred beamed.
'What-What are you doing here?' Harry gasped.
'Came to pay you a Birthday visit. C'mon! We're going to take you back to our place for a bit!' George said shrilly. But before Harry could mention that his Aunt and Uncle would be woken up by the noise, he remembered that Muggles (non-magic folk) couldn't see or hear the Knight Bus. Stan, the steward on the bus, had told him that the first moment he met him.
'C'mon, then! Don't want to be late!' Fred grinned. He grabbed one of Harry's arms, George the other, and pulled him on the bus.
The driver, Ernie, looked back at Harry, slightly amused at the look on his face. 'Ar, yeh weren't expectin this, eh? One of them surprise visits from yer friends, I see? Well, where to, fell'ers?'
'The Burrow, stat!' George shouted teasily. 'We've got some serious Birthday bashing to do!'
'Game of Exploding Snap, Harry?' asked Fred.
'But I'm an underage wizard!' Harry exclaimed. 'I'm not allowed to use magic while outside of school!'
'You know, I nearly forgot that one,' George laughed. 'Sorry, old chap! Didn't mean to scare you!'
'Oi! If it isn' lil' 'Arry Potter!' said a shrill voice from behind. 'Hic-been ages since I last saw ya.'
'Hullo, Stan,' said Harry quietly.
'Oi, 'ssat?' Stan asked, pointing at Fred and George.
'We're Harry's arch-enemies, aren't we, Harry?' Fred and George asked, grinning broadly.
'I do say, 'Arry Potter-hic-doesn' 'ave any enemies, do 'e, Ern?' Stan asked Ernie.
'Well, mind You-Know-Who, ar!' Ernie said.
''Woss yer name's-hic-?' Stan asked the blazing-red-haired boys.
'I'm Percy,' said George, sniggering.
'And I'm Lee Jordan!' said Fred. They both doubled over, laughing hysterically. Then, Harry stood up suddenly.
'So, what's the deal with you two draggin me out of bed at two in the morning?' he asked abruptly. 'Do you have any idea what the Muggles will do if they catch me out of bed, and not in the house?'
'Don't worry...' said George. 'We put sleeping charms on them.'
'But-but what if you get expelled for using magic?' Harry asked exasperatedly.
'Don't worry, ever since Percy's been working for the Ministry of Magic, we've been gettin' off easy, isn't that right, Fred?' George said to Fred.
'Yep! No worries, Harry!' Fred grinned. 'By the way, we're thinking of going down to Diagon Alley tomorrow with Hagrid, Hermione, Ginny and Ron. Fancy joining us?'
'Ohhhh no....' said Stan in a misty voice, very unlike his own. ''Oo two don' wanna go out to Diagon Alley, ain' that right, Ern?' he shot a look at Ernie. Ernie stopped the bus, pulled out a copy of The Daily Prophet, and handed it to the three boys.
'Ar, ain'tcha read the paper yet today? Big things'a'going down there...Here,' he said, giving Harry the paper. 'You'd best read.'
Harry snatched up the paper. He began to read.
THE MINISTRY STUMPED YET AGAIN!
Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic reports: 'No one is allowed into Diagon Alley. We've got guards going about in all of the entrances. Not a living soul gets in, I tell you!' Earlier on that day, Gringotts had been robbed as what has been described as a 'bushy-looking character.' Something was stolen from vault 667. The contents that have been stolen are still unknown at this point, but a young man at the Ministry reports: 'No worries! We'll find out who broke into Gringotts, and find out what has been stolen! Mr Bagman, Mr Crouch and sir Cornelius Fudge are all over it! We'll get to the bottom of it, even if it takes months...'
'Oh dear...' said Harry quietly. He looked towards Fred and George. 'What d'you reckon was in there?'
'Dunno...' said Fred. 'My bet is some sort of map. I've heard stories about that vault, I tell you. Bad ones. Real bad.'
'Like what?' Harry asked puzzled. George looked surprisingly at him.
'What, you mean you don't know?' George said. 'Blimey, Harry! Have you been living under a rock? I mean, really now...'
'No worries, I'll tell you when we get home,' Fred said. Harry, though being very tired a few minutes ago, was now wide awake with anxiety.
*
The Knight Bus arrived a short while later, and Mrs Weasley was waiting outside, looking utterly bewildered and beside herself with anger.
'Do you boys have ANY idea how worried I have been?' she shrieked. She shot a sideways glance at Harry. 'Hello, dear. Now, boys, do you mind even just leaving a note when you leave in the middle of the night? Ron got so anxious that he broke one of the springs on his bed from jumping on it so much!'
'Sorry, Mum,' said Fred, though he sounded sarcastic. 'Anyway, we have something to tell you about the Ministry.' He handed the paper to Mrs Weasley. Just as she began to read it, a loud BANG sounded from inside the house. Percy came outside, looking inquisitive under his spectacles.
'Hey, Percy, did you hear?' Fred asked.
'According to the Daily Prophet, Gringotts has-'
'I know! I know! I was the 'young reporter'!' Percy said. 'Fudge reckons that someone has stolen...' He spoke in an undertone to Mrs Weasley, and she gasped, and clapped a hand over her mouth.
'S-surely....There's a way to get it back?' asked Mrs Weasley, startled.
'What?' asked Harry anxiously. 'What has been stolen?'
Mrs Weasley shuddered, then broke into an unconvincing smile. 'No need to worry, Harry. I'm sure the Ministry can handle it...' Though her voice was very shaky. Fred, George and Harry couldn't help but wonder what Percy was talking about.
Just then, a tall, thin boy, with blazing red hair popped out of the front door at a sprint.
'Harry! Harry! You're here!' said an excited Ron. None to Harry's surprise, Ron had grown quite a few inches since the last time he had seen him.
'Hi, Ron!' Harry said. 'How are you?'
'I'm good, good, very good!-er...How did you get here?' Ron asked abruptly.
'Fred and George took me here on the Knight Bus,' Harry said, fixing his hair, though he knew it wouldn't help. Harry's hair was always fly-away. No matter what he tried to do, it would be a tangled mess.
'The Knight Bus?' said Ron intently. 'Wow! Lucky you, eh!'
'I suppose, I suppose,' Harry answered, 'but I'm very tired.'
'Come on in, dear,' said Mrs Weasley. 'I'll fix you some cocoa, and then you can bunk up in Ron's room.'
'Thanks,' said Harry. Ron couldn't help but notice that Harry had gone pink in the face.
'Mum, aren't you going to punish Fred and George for sneeking about at night?' asked Percy anxiously. 'Surely they do deserve some sort of punishment.'
'No, no...It's all right,' said Mrs Weasley.
'What?' Ron mouthed to Harry in surprise. 'She'd never let them get away with something like that without punishment.'
*
Harry awoke next morning feeling quite refreshed indeed. Ron, who was still asleep, was saying something. It sounded like, 'don't take my butterbeer, Hermione!' Harry was quite amused by this, so went and got Fred and George, who broke out laughing.
''Woss so funny?' said Ron, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
'You!' said George. 'You were talking in your sleep!'
'Was not!' Ron said tempermentally. Harry stifled back a laugh. 'It was that bad?' Harry nodded in reply.
On the way downstairs, Harry bumped into Ginny, who blushed as bright as the colour of her hair, quickly said 'hi' and hurried upstairs.
'Good morning, dear,' said Mrs Weasley. 'Slept well I expect?'
'Yes, th'nk you, Mrs Wea'ley,' Harry mumbled through a stuffed mouth of toast. He quickly swallowed when Mr Weasley came rushing into the room, looking for the floo powder he had left on the table.
'Hello, Arthur dear,' smiled Mrs Weasley. 'The floo powder is over there.'
'Oh-er, of course, Molly. Thank you,' Mr Weasley said. 'Oh, hello, Harry. How you been, old boy?' But before Harry could answer, he kissed Mrs Weasley on the forehead, went into the fireplace and vanished in a cloud of green mist.
'Don't worry, dear,' she said. 'Arthur's just in a bit of a hurry. Lots of extra work to pull off now that Gringotts has been robbed.' Her voice had went shaky at the end of the sentence.
'That-that thing that someone stole...' Harry began to ask, 'what was it?'
'Nothing,' she said flatly. 'Hurry up and eat your toast, dear. We'll have to leave to buy your school supplies soon.' He mouthed down another piece of toast, then realised-
'But we can't go into Diagon Alley,' said Harry suddenly, in a worried tone.
'Yes, but Hagrid says if we travel by floo powder into Knockturn Alley-though I hate to admit we have to go down there-that we'll find all of the shops in Diagon Alley have been moved into there,' Mrs Weasley reassured him. 'You can borrow some of Ron's clothes if you like, dear.'
Harry ran up the staircase, and nearly scared Percy out of his wits when he bumped into him. When Harry reached Ron's bedroom, Fred and George were there.
'Harry-a quick word, if I may,' said Fred.
'Er-OK,' said Harry. George dragged him over to where Fred was, and made him sit down on the floor.
'Now, you were wondering about vault 667?' Fred asked. 'Well, I'm going to tell you the story, er-' he looked sideways at George, 'of course, with some assistance from George here.'
'That's better,' muttered George unenthusiastically. 'Now, it all started back when the founders of Diagon Alley built Gringotts, right Fred?'
'Yep,' he replied. 'After they built all of the vaults-which there are over thousands of-they discovered that vault 667 seemed to be broken into a lot by thieves.'
'Some people say it's invisible,' said George. 'In fact, some people have proof that it is. Of course, not everybody believes it. I'm sure you don't, do you, Fred?'
'No,' Fred started, 'but some of the Ministry's reporters say that when they went to inspect things in that particular vault, it went from vault 666-668....No 667 in between.'
'Really?' asked Harry. 'And these aren't just stupid fairy tales?'
'That's right,' George said. 'Others say that vault 667 was never built; that they missed putting it in between 666 and 668.'
'But then, how could it have been robbed so many times if it didn't exist?' said Harry. 'I mean, it'd have to in order to get robbed.'
'True, true, very true,' said Fred. 'But nobody knows for certain.'
'So...do you know what was stolen out of there?' Harry asked hesitantly.
'Not a clue,' said Fred and George together. 'The Ministry knows, but won't tell anyone.'
'Hey, Harry, my Mum said you-' Ron began as he rushed into the room, but stopped at the sight of Harry on the floor. 'Er-what are you doing?'
'We were just telling Harry about the myths of vault 667,' said Fred with a grin.
'Oh dear, not that rubbish again,' Ron murmered. He held up a pair of gold outfits, and blue outfits. 'Which do you prefer, Harry?'
'Um...the blue,' he said. Harry quickly got dressed, and he and Ron headed down to where Mrs Weasley was waiting for them.
'Boys, we're going by floo powder,' she instructed them. 'Fred, George, you go first.' Mrs Weasley handed them each a handful of the powder.
They got into the fireplace and said, 'Knockturn Alley!' and they vanished in a flash of smoke.
'Ron, you next,' she said while handing him the powder.
'Knockturn Alley!' he then vanished, too. Harry went next, then Ginny, along with Mrs Weasley.
Harry brushed off his clothing and stepped out of the fireplace, after Ron.
'Well, well, if it isn't famous Harry Potter, and faithful sidekick Weasley,' said a familiar voice. 'What're you doing down here? The geek shops are in Diagon Alley. Too bad you didn't go over there; I would have fancied you getting lost and not ending up at Hogwarts this year.'
Harry immediately knew who it was. A boy his age, with silver blonde hair and sneer on his face, Draco Malfoy.
'What do you want, Malfoy?' Ron sneered back. 'Come down here to get robes that make whoever wears them look more handsome? If so, you could definitely use them.'
'Very funny,' Malfoy said. Just then, Hermione walked in. Malfoy suddenly went pink in the face. 'Erm-I gotta go now....Got to buy....Dark Arts stuff....' and he quickly turned and ran off.
'Harry! Ron!' Hermione yelled. She hugged them both. 'It's so good to see you!'
'Yeah, likewise,' said Harry. 'What's with Malfoy? Is he afraid of you or something, Hermione?'
'What? No!' she said quickly, and went pink in the face, too. 'By the way, someone from the Ministry told me that someone needed to speak to you. Whoever it is is right outside.'
Harry nervously walked outside. There, stood a man with a green bowler under his arm, and he was wearing a pinstriped cloak. It was the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge.
-Chapter One-
The Stolen Item
'What?' Harry asked, half asleep, half awake, at the sound that had woke him up. He fumbled around on his desk for his glasses, put them on, and staggered sleepily over to the window. His snowy owl, Hedwig, was holding a letter with a small parcel attached. 'Oh, Hedwig...What're you doing here at this time of night?' Harry looked at the clock. He had officially been fifteen for two hours now. He opened the window, let Hedwig in, and relieved her of the parcel that was around her legs. She flew over to the bed, dropped the letter, and flew over to give Harry an affectionate nip on the ear.
He opened up the letter. It was from Sirius Black! Only two years ago had he found out that he had a Godfather. But he hardly got to see him, as Sirius was on the run from the Azkaban (wizard prison) guards. He opened the letter, and read:
Dear Harry,
How are you holding up? Sorry I didn't get back to you for so long.
Yes, Buckbeak is doing fine. Found himself a mate, in fact! Don't worry,
I've been taking good care of him.
How're Ron and Hermione? Good, I expect. Here are the answers to your
Questions; Yes, I'm down south at the moment. I just keep moving, as quietly,
And as quickly as possible, without being caught. Did you get the cookies I sent for
Christmas? Sorry about them being burnt-I hadn't performed that spell in quite
Some time! Well, I'd best be on my way. Let me know if you need anything!
Sirius
Harry sat down on the bed, and opened up the parcel. Inside were two, brand-new eagle-feather quills, and some bottles of butterbeer.
'Mmm!' he said silently at the sight of the butterbeer. Harry had once had butterbeer in Hogsemeade, the wizarding village, a few years ago, and immediately took liking to it. There was a loud snort from the room on his right. It was definitely the sound of Uncle Vernon's loud snoring. You could hear it a mile away.
Harry thought he should probably go back to sleep, so he hid the quills and butterbeer under the loose floor-board, and hopped back onto his bed. But before he had the chance to get back to sleep, there was a rather large BANG outside the house. He quickly put on a housecoat and shoes, walked downstairs, and outside.
Standing there, in the middle of the street, was the Knight Bus. Harry had encountered this mysterius bus once before, while running away from his Aunt and Uncle's house. There, who should appear, but Fred and George Weasley, the older twin brothers of his best friend Ron.
'Hiya, Harry!' Fred beamed.
'What-What are you doing here?' Harry gasped.
'Came to pay you a Birthday visit. C'mon! We're going to take you back to our place for a bit!' George said shrilly. But before Harry could mention that his Aunt and Uncle would be woken up by the noise, he remembered that Muggles (non-magic folk) couldn't see or hear the Knight Bus. Stan, the steward on the bus, had told him that the first moment he met him.
'C'mon, then! Don't want to be late!' Fred grinned. He grabbed one of Harry's arms, George the other, and pulled him on the bus.
The driver, Ernie, looked back at Harry, slightly amused at the look on his face. 'Ar, yeh weren't expectin this, eh? One of them surprise visits from yer friends, I see? Well, where to, fell'ers?'
'The Burrow, stat!' George shouted teasily. 'We've got some serious Birthday bashing to do!'
'Game of Exploding Snap, Harry?' asked Fred.
'But I'm an underage wizard!' Harry exclaimed. 'I'm not allowed to use magic while outside of school!'
'You know, I nearly forgot that one,' George laughed. 'Sorry, old chap! Didn't mean to scare you!'
'Oi! If it isn' lil' 'Arry Potter!' said a shrill voice from behind. 'Hic-been ages since I last saw ya.'
'Hullo, Stan,' said Harry quietly.
'Oi, 'ssat?' Stan asked, pointing at Fred and George.
'We're Harry's arch-enemies, aren't we, Harry?' Fred and George asked, grinning broadly.
'I do say, 'Arry Potter-hic-doesn' 'ave any enemies, do 'e, Ern?' Stan asked Ernie.
'Well, mind You-Know-Who, ar!' Ernie said.
''Woss yer name's-hic-?' Stan asked the blazing-red-haired boys.
'I'm Percy,' said George, sniggering.
'And I'm Lee Jordan!' said Fred. They both doubled over, laughing hysterically. Then, Harry stood up suddenly.
'So, what's the deal with you two draggin me out of bed at two in the morning?' he asked abruptly. 'Do you have any idea what the Muggles will do if they catch me out of bed, and not in the house?'
'Don't worry...' said George. 'We put sleeping charms on them.'
'But-but what if you get expelled for using magic?' Harry asked exasperatedly.
'Don't worry, ever since Percy's been working for the Ministry of Magic, we've been gettin' off easy, isn't that right, Fred?' George said to Fred.
'Yep! No worries, Harry!' Fred grinned. 'By the way, we're thinking of going down to Diagon Alley tomorrow with Hagrid, Hermione, Ginny and Ron. Fancy joining us?'
'Ohhhh no....' said Stan in a misty voice, very unlike his own. ''Oo two don' wanna go out to Diagon Alley, ain' that right, Ern?' he shot a look at Ernie. Ernie stopped the bus, pulled out a copy of The Daily Prophet, and handed it to the three boys.
'Ar, ain'tcha read the paper yet today? Big things'a'going down there...Here,' he said, giving Harry the paper. 'You'd best read.'
Harry snatched up the paper. He began to read.
THE MINISTRY STUMPED YET AGAIN!
Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic reports: 'No one is allowed into Diagon Alley. We've got guards going about in all of the entrances. Not a living soul gets in, I tell you!' Earlier on that day, Gringotts had been robbed as what has been described as a 'bushy-looking character.' Something was stolen from vault 667. The contents that have been stolen are still unknown at this point, but a young man at the Ministry reports: 'No worries! We'll find out who broke into Gringotts, and find out what has been stolen! Mr Bagman, Mr Crouch and sir Cornelius Fudge are all over it! We'll get to the bottom of it, even if it takes months...'
'Oh dear...' said Harry quietly. He looked towards Fred and George. 'What d'you reckon was in there?'
'Dunno...' said Fred. 'My bet is some sort of map. I've heard stories about that vault, I tell you. Bad ones. Real bad.'
'Like what?' Harry asked puzzled. George looked surprisingly at him.
'What, you mean you don't know?' George said. 'Blimey, Harry! Have you been living under a rock? I mean, really now...'
'No worries, I'll tell you when we get home,' Fred said. Harry, though being very tired a few minutes ago, was now wide awake with anxiety.
*
The Knight Bus arrived a short while later, and Mrs Weasley was waiting outside, looking utterly bewildered and beside herself with anger.
'Do you boys have ANY idea how worried I have been?' she shrieked. She shot a sideways glance at Harry. 'Hello, dear. Now, boys, do you mind even just leaving a note when you leave in the middle of the night? Ron got so anxious that he broke one of the springs on his bed from jumping on it so much!'
'Sorry, Mum,' said Fred, though he sounded sarcastic. 'Anyway, we have something to tell you about the Ministry.' He handed the paper to Mrs Weasley. Just as she began to read it, a loud BANG sounded from inside the house. Percy came outside, looking inquisitive under his spectacles.
'Hey, Percy, did you hear?' Fred asked.
'According to the Daily Prophet, Gringotts has-'
'I know! I know! I was the 'young reporter'!' Percy said. 'Fudge reckons that someone has stolen...' He spoke in an undertone to Mrs Weasley, and she gasped, and clapped a hand over her mouth.
'S-surely....There's a way to get it back?' asked Mrs Weasley, startled.
'What?' asked Harry anxiously. 'What has been stolen?'
Mrs Weasley shuddered, then broke into an unconvincing smile. 'No need to worry, Harry. I'm sure the Ministry can handle it...' Though her voice was very shaky. Fred, George and Harry couldn't help but wonder what Percy was talking about.
Just then, a tall, thin boy, with blazing red hair popped out of the front door at a sprint.
'Harry! Harry! You're here!' said an excited Ron. None to Harry's surprise, Ron had grown quite a few inches since the last time he had seen him.
'Hi, Ron!' Harry said. 'How are you?'
'I'm good, good, very good!-er...How did you get here?' Ron asked abruptly.
'Fred and George took me here on the Knight Bus,' Harry said, fixing his hair, though he knew it wouldn't help. Harry's hair was always fly-away. No matter what he tried to do, it would be a tangled mess.
'The Knight Bus?' said Ron intently. 'Wow! Lucky you, eh!'
'I suppose, I suppose,' Harry answered, 'but I'm very tired.'
'Come on in, dear,' said Mrs Weasley. 'I'll fix you some cocoa, and then you can bunk up in Ron's room.'
'Thanks,' said Harry. Ron couldn't help but notice that Harry had gone pink in the face.
'Mum, aren't you going to punish Fred and George for sneeking about at night?' asked Percy anxiously. 'Surely they do deserve some sort of punishment.'
'No, no...It's all right,' said Mrs Weasley.
'What?' Ron mouthed to Harry in surprise. 'She'd never let them get away with something like that without punishment.'
*
Harry awoke next morning feeling quite refreshed indeed. Ron, who was still asleep, was saying something. It sounded like, 'don't take my butterbeer, Hermione!' Harry was quite amused by this, so went and got Fred and George, who broke out laughing.
''Woss so funny?' said Ron, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
'You!' said George. 'You were talking in your sleep!'
'Was not!' Ron said tempermentally. Harry stifled back a laugh. 'It was that bad?' Harry nodded in reply.
On the way downstairs, Harry bumped into Ginny, who blushed as bright as the colour of her hair, quickly said 'hi' and hurried upstairs.
'Good morning, dear,' said Mrs Weasley. 'Slept well I expect?'
'Yes, th'nk you, Mrs Wea'ley,' Harry mumbled through a stuffed mouth of toast. He quickly swallowed when Mr Weasley came rushing into the room, looking for the floo powder he had left on the table.
'Hello, Arthur dear,' smiled Mrs Weasley. 'The floo powder is over there.'
'Oh-er, of course, Molly. Thank you,' Mr Weasley said. 'Oh, hello, Harry. How you been, old boy?' But before Harry could answer, he kissed Mrs Weasley on the forehead, went into the fireplace and vanished in a cloud of green mist.
'Don't worry, dear,' she said. 'Arthur's just in a bit of a hurry. Lots of extra work to pull off now that Gringotts has been robbed.' Her voice had went shaky at the end of the sentence.
'That-that thing that someone stole...' Harry began to ask, 'what was it?'
'Nothing,' she said flatly. 'Hurry up and eat your toast, dear. We'll have to leave to buy your school supplies soon.' He mouthed down another piece of toast, then realised-
'But we can't go into Diagon Alley,' said Harry suddenly, in a worried tone.
'Yes, but Hagrid says if we travel by floo powder into Knockturn Alley-though I hate to admit we have to go down there-that we'll find all of the shops in Diagon Alley have been moved into there,' Mrs Weasley reassured him. 'You can borrow some of Ron's clothes if you like, dear.'
Harry ran up the staircase, and nearly scared Percy out of his wits when he bumped into him. When Harry reached Ron's bedroom, Fred and George were there.
'Harry-a quick word, if I may,' said Fred.
'Er-OK,' said Harry. George dragged him over to where Fred was, and made him sit down on the floor.
'Now, you were wondering about vault 667?' Fred asked. 'Well, I'm going to tell you the story, er-' he looked sideways at George, 'of course, with some assistance from George here.'
'That's better,' muttered George unenthusiastically. 'Now, it all started back when the founders of Diagon Alley built Gringotts, right Fred?'
'Yep,' he replied. 'After they built all of the vaults-which there are over thousands of-they discovered that vault 667 seemed to be broken into a lot by thieves.'
'Some people say it's invisible,' said George. 'In fact, some people have proof that it is. Of course, not everybody believes it. I'm sure you don't, do you, Fred?'
'No,' Fred started, 'but some of the Ministry's reporters say that when they went to inspect things in that particular vault, it went from vault 666-668....No 667 in between.'
'Really?' asked Harry. 'And these aren't just stupid fairy tales?'
'That's right,' George said. 'Others say that vault 667 was never built; that they missed putting it in between 666 and 668.'
'But then, how could it have been robbed so many times if it didn't exist?' said Harry. 'I mean, it'd have to in order to get robbed.'
'True, true, very true,' said Fred. 'But nobody knows for certain.'
'So...do you know what was stolen out of there?' Harry asked hesitantly.
'Not a clue,' said Fred and George together. 'The Ministry knows, but won't tell anyone.'
'Hey, Harry, my Mum said you-' Ron began as he rushed into the room, but stopped at the sight of Harry on the floor. 'Er-what are you doing?'
'We were just telling Harry about the myths of vault 667,' said Fred with a grin.
'Oh dear, not that rubbish again,' Ron murmered. He held up a pair of gold outfits, and blue outfits. 'Which do you prefer, Harry?'
'Um...the blue,' he said. Harry quickly got dressed, and he and Ron headed down to where Mrs Weasley was waiting for them.
'Boys, we're going by floo powder,' she instructed them. 'Fred, George, you go first.' Mrs Weasley handed them each a handful of the powder.
They got into the fireplace and said, 'Knockturn Alley!' and they vanished in a flash of smoke.
'Ron, you next,' she said while handing him the powder.
'Knockturn Alley!' he then vanished, too. Harry went next, then Ginny, along with Mrs Weasley.
Harry brushed off his clothing and stepped out of the fireplace, after Ron.
'Well, well, if it isn't famous Harry Potter, and faithful sidekick Weasley,' said a familiar voice. 'What're you doing down here? The geek shops are in Diagon Alley. Too bad you didn't go over there; I would have fancied you getting lost and not ending up at Hogwarts this year.'
Harry immediately knew who it was. A boy his age, with silver blonde hair and sneer on his face, Draco Malfoy.
'What do you want, Malfoy?' Ron sneered back. 'Come down here to get robes that make whoever wears them look more handsome? If so, you could definitely use them.'
'Very funny,' Malfoy said. Just then, Hermione walked in. Malfoy suddenly went pink in the face. 'Erm-I gotta go now....Got to buy....Dark Arts stuff....' and he quickly turned and ran off.
'Harry! Ron!' Hermione yelled. She hugged them both. 'It's so good to see you!'
'Yeah, likewise,' said Harry. 'What's with Malfoy? Is he afraid of you or something, Hermione?'
'What? No!' she said quickly, and went pink in the face, too. 'By the way, someone from the Ministry told me that someone needed to speak to you. Whoever it is is right outside.'
Harry nervously walked outside. There, stood a man with a green bowler under his arm, and he was wearing a pinstriped cloak. It was the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge.