Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. That wonderful honor belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N- This was a short missing scene I wrote for one of my literature classes my freshman year of college, about two years ago. I tweaked it a bit, to improve it, but I am actually quite happy with most of it (I'm quite confident about the characters, as out of any category I've read/wrote fanfiction in, I know the Harry Potter universe best. Anyway, it's quite short, but I hope you enjoy! Takes place at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Breaking and Entering

"Be careful," Hermione whispered unnecessarily, since both boys were alert for any booby-traps that would spring upon them at any moment; they were in the office of a raging lunatic/paranoid ex-Auror, after all. All three had their wands lit, the light creating eerie shadows from the various Dark-magic detectors and furniture within Moody's office.

A loud thud and a vicious swear from Ron had both Harry and Hermione spinning in his direction, their wands aloft, only to discover that the redhead had stubbed his toe on the corner of Moody's desk.

"Well," said Harry after a slight pause in which they watched Ron hop up and down, rubbing his sore foot, "where do you think he hid it?"

"Either a place where he could easily grab it at any moment," Hermione stated matter-of-factly, "or somewhere that's going to be impossible for us to get to. If we were Mad-Eye Moody, where would we hide a magic map?"

"You mean if we were Barty Crouch Jr., where would we hide it," Ron corrected, now scanning the dark corners of the room with the dim light of his wand. "Although, wouldn't make much of a difference, would it? They're both mental."

"Do you think he hid it in one of the trunk's compartments?" Harry asked, standing over the magical trunk that had held the real Alastor Moody captive for the entire school year.

"Well, if it is in there," said Hermione, not even glancing at the trunk as she scanned the shelves along the wall, "Alohamora wouldn't do, the keys are probably the only things that can open the compartments. And it can't possibly be in the—"

"—Desk?" Ron interrupted, standing besides an open drawer of said desk and holding up a worn, old piece of parchment. Both Harry and Hermione stared.

"He had it in his desk, where anybody could have taken it?" Harry said in disbelief, "he didn't even charm the drawer."

"That's not the worst part," Ron continued, now pointing on the faint outlines and moving dots on the map. "He left it visible. Any prat could've come here and grabbed this and have a field day."

"A stupid prat, maybe," Harry said dryly, grabbing the map and wiping it blank with a "Mischief managed." He folded and tucked it into the inside pocket of his robes. "Who in their right mind would break into an Auror's office? Especially one that prattles on about 'Constant Vigilance' all the time?"

"You mean besides us three?" Hermione asked, an amused smile playing at her lips, as all three left the office, glancing up and down the corridor.

"This is different," Ron defended, although none of them really thought it was different at all, "we had to get the map back. Besides, the nutter's stuffed up in the hospital wing and the other one wouldn't be able to tell the difference between his own mother and a flobberworm anymore. This was the perfect time for breaking and entering."

"Come on, then, we'll be late for the feast," said Harry and the three grew somber as they thought about the recent events that had taken place, and what it could possibly mean for their future.


A/N- Well, hope you enjoyed it, and let me know what you guys thought with a little review! ;-)