"Athos!" Dumbledore smiled warmly and greeted Mr Baronte with an exaggerated show of merriment and affection.

"Albus." Mr Baronte nodded curtly and glared back with blatant disdain and suspicion.

"How are you?"

Mr Baronte armed himself with his most dangerous stare and said nothing. Ron and Hermione glanced nervously at each other behind awkward smiles. Eventually Mr Baronte pursed his lips and jerked his head irritably as he glanced behind the three of them, clearly concerned that there might be more.

Dumbledore sighed overdramatically as though he had just come to a sudden realisation

"Where are my manors?" Dumbledore said as he placed a slender hand against his forehead, "I must apologise Athos, this must seem most irregular! But you see, I was just enjoying the local scenery with a few of my students when I recognised your house and thought I'd drop by and see an old friend!"

Dumbledore smiled expectantly at Mr Baronte

"Well, I'm fine thank you..." Mr Baronte growled

"Excellent!" Dumbledore exclaimed, "And how's your delightful daughter getting along? I see she's still attending her garden dutifully."

Athos frowned and made a rumbling noise from deep in his throat. He shook his head.

"This isn't the best time, Albus."

Dumbledore looked suddenly very surprised.

"Oh that is a shame" He said sounding almost genuinely disappointed "Only, I was hoping I could come in for a short rest. I seem to remember sampling a rather exquisite bottle of Olde English Meade on my last visit..."

"And I seem to remember you finishing it." Athos replied viciously "There were only two-hundred bottles of that Meade ever made."

Dumbledore chuckled

"Well then, if you won't yield to the pleads of a tired old man, perhaps you'll satisfy the curiosity of youth?" Dumbledore gestured towards Ron who jumped and stared back at him incredulously, clearly appalled that he was about to be dragged into the conversation.

"This is Arthur Weasley's son. He has been showing me around today and he mentioned, in passing, that you knew his father who himself collects… unusual items and…"

"I know of Arthur Weasley's collection!" Mr Baronte snapped

"Oh, you do? It's quite remarkable, isn't it?"

"That's one way of putting it."

Dumbledore chuckled again

"Well then, I'll cut to the chase; I was hoping that you'd have something very rare to show this young man? It's my opinion that he might make a great collector someday and I know you'd be the best person to inspire him!"

Mr Baronte looked increasingly flustered. He glanced briefly behind him and shifted his weight irritably against the door

"As I said to you before, Albus, I'm very busy at the moment and now really isn't…"

"Come now Athos! This should only take a …" Dumbledore suddenly dropped all pretences and tilted his head to one side as though straining to hear to something.

Mr Baronte looked panicked

"Dumbledore you can't…"

"My dear friend, is someone crying?"

"No! Don't you…"

But Dumbledore leapt forward with surprising agility and pushed through the door before Mr Baronte could react.

"That is none of your business Albus!" Athos whispered as though the inside of the house had smothered his voice "Leave! Now!"

But Dumbledore was not listening to him. Instead he was concentrating on the sound of sobs coming from a door at the end of the hall.

"Athos my friend, my only intention is to help you and your clearly distraught daughter." Dumbledore then turned to Ron and Hermione who were still standing awkwardly outside the front door. "You can both come in now. I don't believe his charm works on underage witches or wizards."

"Dumbledore I must protest!" Athos hissed as the children darted apologetically past him, then he reached inside his robes for his wand but after receiving a single, vastly superior glare from the old headmaster he froze. Dumbledore then returned to the door at the end of the hallway and stepped inside the room with Ron and Hermione following close behind him.

Both Ron and Hermione recognised the room immediately from their attempt at espionage the night before. There was the same rocking chair in the same place as before and occupied by the same woman, however she was not the content figure they had observed. Instead, her whole body was racked with sobs and her head was buried in a pink, flowery pinny.

"My dear!" Dumbledore said softly, sounding genuinely concerned, "whatever is the matter?"

The woman in the chair jumped and looked up at them with red, puffy eyes that darted from Dumbledore, to Ron then Hermione, and finally to the doorway behind them through which Mr Baronte had just stormed in.

"For goodness sake Albus!" Mr Baronte growled as he pushed his way through the room towards his daughter, "Can't you see my daughter is upset enough already?"

"I wish only to help, Athos."

Mr Baronte placed a protective arm around his daughters' shoulders as she clutched the pinny up to her nose, catching the last of her tears as they rolled down her face. She began to hiccup occasionally but was no longer crying, instead she continued to stare at the people in front of her with wide eyes.

Since entering the house Dumbledore had adopted an entirely different persona. He assumed complete control, and exuded a sense of absolute power and authority. He looked slowly around the room before settling himself down in the armchair opposite Mr Baronte, who rolled his eyes.

Dumbledore peered over his spectacles at the woman hiccupping on the chair.

"Why are you crying Isabella?"

Bella gulped and then looked fearfully up at her father who was still glaring at Dumbledore.

When Athos looked back down at his daughter however, his expression changed dramatically. He looked almost on the verge of tears himself.

"Why are you really here, Albus?" Mr Baronte asked, his voice breaking.

"I think you already know why." Dumbledore said slowly. Then after a tortuous pause, he continued "I am seeking your assistance in locating one of my pupils."

Mr Baronte remained quiet as the colour drained from his cheeks.

"Then you'll have to excuse me for a moment, Albus. I will not discuss this matter in front of my daughter." Athos looked back at Dumbldore with begging eyes "Would you allow me to take her upstairs to her room?"

Dumbledore nodded and Mr Baronte lifted his daughter gently out of the chair as she kept her face hidden from the nose down under her tear soaked pinny. They left the living room in silence and allowed the door to swing closed behind them.

Ron and Hermione looked towards Dumbledore who seemed for the moment to be deep in thought as he considered the painting on the wall in much the same way he had considered the occupants of the house. With one fluid movement, he rose from the chair and stood in front of the portrait.

"Well," Dumbledore sighed, offering a brief smile to Ron and Hermione before turning back towards the portrait again "that went well, I thought."

"But he didn't tell us anything!"

"There is often more said within any conversation than simply the words, Mr Weasley. I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. I learnt rather a lot."

Hermione glanced at Ron, who had turned very red, before joining Dumbledore beside the portrait

"Professor?" She asked tentatively

"Miss Granger?"

"Is she…was she…Is that Mr Baronte's wife?"

"Yes."

"What happened to her, sir?"

"Mrs Baronte was brutally murdered, close to thirty years ago now."

"Murdered?"

"Unfortunately, this is not the time or place to explore that sad chapter in the Baronte family history, I'm afraid we have little time before Mr Baronte returns." Dumbledore reached out and placed a hand on the top right hand corner of the portrait, much the same way Mr Baronte had done the night before.

"Now then, you said he pulled the portrait round like this?"

Hermione nodded and Dumbledore wrenched the corner of the picture frame downwards so that the picture was now on its side. With his other hand, he flicked his wand and the image changed.

Now it showed an empty room with a bed in the centre and a screen off to one side. The room was lit but nothing appeared to be moving within and there was no sign of Harry anywhere.

"Does this look like the same room you saw last night?" Dumbledore asked.

Ron moved closer and squinted

"It could be..." He said, "The picture we saw was really dark. I don't remember that screen being there, do you, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head. The thought occurred to her that perhaps they had been wrong, and what they had seen was just a trick of the light. Even worse, was the prospect that they had been right about the picture, but too late to do anything. There was certainly no sign of Harry in the room; the bed sheets were creased, but did not look as though they had been slept in, and the glasses they had seen on the bedside table were gone.

"He might be behind that screen?" she said hopefully

"If he is in that room, then that is one place he could be. There is, of course, only one way to know for sure."

Dumbledore flicked his wand again and a door in the corner of the room opened, as though it had been planning to all along, revealing a long stone tunnel beyond.

"If Harry is inside this painting then there is only one way for him to escape, and I do not think we can get him out through there." Dumbledore said, indicating towards the door, "I will need you to ask him to come out from his hiding place while I consider the possibility of extracting him from here."

Ron and Hermione nodded, looking resolute. Then they moved quickly towards the secret tunnel.

As they passed through the doorway the air around them became suddenly cold and stale, more like the dungeons of Hogwarts that the warm living room they had left behind. They began to walk slowly as they took in the walls which were worn smooth from years of seeping damp. Clumps of green mould clung to the bare rock alongside the occasional mushroom and candles in brackets caked with melted wax were hung unused, as the crisp light from the end of the tunnel proved more than sufficient to light their way.

As they finally entered the room at the end they stopped. Everything beyond a bold, grey line in the centre of the room matched what they had seen in the portrait, but from here it looked oddly distorted, like it was under water.

Nothing moved and room seemed to be holding its breath as Ron and Hermione listened carefully for any sign of life.

"H… Harry?" Hermione called softly.

There was a slight stirring from behind the screen.

"Harry mate, it's us! You in here?"

Ron was answered by a hasty shuffling and a head that appeared from behind the screen looking tired and very confused.

Ron grinned broadly at his best friend as he pulled himself to his feet and came out fully from behind the screen. He squinted, as though he could not believe what he was seeing.

"You look awful mate!" Ron said, grinning broadly

"Oh Harry! Are you alright?" Hermione asked, stopping just short of the grey line on the floor.

Harry couldn't help but grin at his friends and he ran a hand through his untidy hair. A feeling of immense relief washed through him like water from a burst dam and he laughed.

"How did you find me? Is anyone else here with you?" Harry asked

"Just Dumbledore." Ron said, shrugging

"Dumbledore's here? Where is he? And how did you get past Athos and his daughter?"

"Whoa! One question at a time, mate!"

"Dumbledore should be watching you through a painting in Mr Baronte's living room, he said he should be able to, er… 'extract' you soon." Said Hermione

"So, Dumbledore brought you along with him?"

"Well, yes, in a way." Hermione said frowning "He, sort of caught us looking for you and then he took us for a walk."

"Took you for a walk? Where is this place?"

Ron laughed unexpectedly

"You'll never believe it, Harry, but you're only about a mile away from the Burrow!"

Harry stared

"You've got to be kidding me?"

"Nope! We snuck out with Fred and George…"

"And Ginny" Hermione added

"Yeah, Ginny too…anyway, we spied on this old house that Dad knew about and there you were, in a picture on his wall."

Ron continued to grin proudly, but Harry's sudden elation drained

"The picture was on display? But I was told it was hidden!"

"It's sort of disguised as a portrait of Mr Baronte's wife, we just caught him looking at you through it."

Not entirely reassured, Harry felt the old worries return.

"So, when am I getting out of here?"

"Dunno, just as soon as Dumbledore figures it out, I guess." Ron answered

"Figures what out?"

"Dumbledore doesn't think he can get you out from in here, he thinks you can come out in the living room"

"Well that makes sense; Mr Baronte's daughter just told me something about only taking things out the way they came in." Harry briefly gestured at the invisible barrier "I've tried getting out that way and trust me, that definitely can't be the way I came in!"

"What's that over there?" Hermione interrupted. She was pointing at the traveling cloak Mr Baronte had thrown to the floor earlier and had since forgotten to pick it up. The corner of a large leather bound book could be seen poking out from beneath it. It's thick brown paper wrapping had ripped down one side.

Harry folded his arms and frowned as he thought back on his last argument.

"Mr Baronte left it behind just now." He said as he watched Ron pull the parcel out from beneath the cloak. The book slid easily from its torn wrapping and the title was revealed in ornate silver lettering which read: 'The True Arte of Invisibility: How to Make Yourself REALLY disappear'.

"What can he want with this thing, it looks ancient!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and eagerly snatched the heavy book from Ron's hands

"Hey!"

"Ron, this is a really rare book! If it's what I think it is then it's not supposed to even exist!"

She continued to stare in awe at the book.

Ron looked back at Harry, who had moved as close as he could to get a better look.

"Any idea what he wanted this book for, Harry?"

"He collects really rare things, they call themselves 'The Collectors', so if Hermione says it's rare then that might be why. Or it could be something to do with the protection he keeps banging on about. Maybe he thought that vanishing would be a better way of hiding?"

There was a loud and ominous crack as Hermione opened the book. She looked up sheepishly,

"It's an old book… they sometimes do that…"

Ron turned suddenly towards the entranceway

"I think someone's coming!" He said

No sooner had he cried this warning, when Harry yelled one of his own and he stepped away from the invisible wall.

Hermione looked up from the book

"Harry, it is supposed to change colour like that?"

The watery surface of the invisible barrier had started to change into darkening grey wisp like clouds which began to obscure anything beyond

"It's never done anything like this before." Harry said "Do you think it could be whatever Dumbledore is doing?"

"I don't think so mate" Ron answered, still staring down the old tunnel

"How could you know?"

"He's on his way here!"

"Er… guys!" Harry yelled as the wall became completely solid.

"Harry!" Ron ran forward

"No, don't touch it!" Hermione warned "You could get caught too."

The surface of the wall suddeny shuddered violently and a muffled yell could be heard from the other side.

"HARRY!" Ron yelled, abandoning all caution and slamming a fist into the barrier just as Dumbledore entered the room

"Professor! What's going on?" Hermione asked

Dumbledore gazed at the dark wall in front of them.

"Well I managed to persuade Mr Baronte to begin the extraction. Harry should no longer be in his prison which is a start." Dumbledore said gravely. "However Athos is expecting some very unwanted guests, and I'm afraid that, for now, we are trapped in here."