Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling or Timothy Zahn.

Enter Ron, Hermione, and Neville, at the site of the Avalon attack, among the Wizards' Council party.

Neville. As you can see, the place is something of a mess.

Hermione. That's for sure. How many people died in the attack?

Neville. In this region, a few hundred. Not too bad, really.

Hermione. No. A lot of damage, though.

Neville. Yeah. But not nearly as much as there could have been.

Ron. I wonder why.

Neville. So does everyone else. It's been the second most popular question around here these days.

Hermione. What's the first?

Ron. Let me guess. The first is, why did they bother pounding on Avalon in the first place.

Neville. You got it. It's not like they didn't have any better targets to choose from. You've got the Nimbus broom company about thirty light-years away, for starters, a hundred brooms there at any given time, not to mention the docking facilities themselves. Then there's Eeylops at just under sixty, and four or five major trade centers within a hundred. An extra day of travel each way, tops, at Ministry cruiser cruising speeds. So why Avalon?

Hermione. Nimbus itself is pretty heavily defended. Between our selkie cruisers and the Nimbus's own permanent battle stations, any Ministry leader with a gram of sense would think twice before tackling it. And those other regions are all a lot deeper into Wizards' Council space than Avalon. Maybe they didn't want to push their luck that far.

Ron. While they tested their new transmission system under combat conditions?

Neville. We don't know that they've got a new system. Coordinated simultaneous attacks have been done before.

Ron. No. No, they've got something new. Some kind of booster that lets them punch subspace transmissions through Shield Charms and battle debris.

Hermione. I don't think it's a booster. No one in any of the three regions picked up any transmissions.

Noticing her expression, Ron frowns at her.

Ron. You okay?

Hermione. Yes. I was just remembering that when . . . well, when Severus Snape was having us tortured in Newham, Harry knew it was happening from wherever he was at the time. And there were rumors that the Dark Lord and Snape could do that, too.

Ron. Yeah, but they're both dead. Harry said so.

Hermione. I know. But what if the Ministry has found another Dark Auror?

Neville, who had gotten ahead of them, turns back.

Neville. You talking about Crouch?

Hermione. What?

Neville. Bartemiuus Crouch. I thought I heard you mention Aurors.

Hermione. I did. Who's Bartemiuus Crouch?

Neville. He was one of the major Auror Masters back in pre-Ministry days, supposed to have disappeared before the Wizarding Wars started. I heard a rumor a couple of days ago that he's surfaced again and set up shop on some minor region named Upper Flagley.

Ron. [sarcastic] Right. And he was just sitting around doing nothing during the war?

Neville. I just report them, General. I don't make them up.

Hermione. We can ask Harry. Maybe he knows something. Are we ready to move on?

Neville. Sure. The broomsticks are over this way.

Hermione senses danger in the Magic.

Hermione. Ron, Neville . . . duck.

Enter the vampires.

Ron. Cover!

Ron, Hermione, and Neville duck out of the way, as the vampires open fire. Neville removes his rifle.

Neville. Sorry. I'm not sure. But I think we've got trouble.

Ron. I think you're right.

Ron, his rifle drawn, checks his transmitter.

They've learned. This time they're jamming our communications.

Hermione removes her lightwand.

Neville fires at the vampires.

Neville. It sounds like you've run into these guys before.

Ron. We've met. We haven't really figured out what they want, though.

Hermione starts to activate her lightwand, when she hears the sound of a familiar car.

Hermione. Ron.

Ron. I hear it. Way to go, Hagrid.

Neville. What?

Ron. That whine you hear is the Anglia. Hagrid probably discovered they were jamming us and put two and two together. Here he comes.

The false Ford Anglia lands between Ron, Hermione, and Neville, and their vampire attackers.

Great. Okay. I'll go first and cover you from the bottom of the ramp. Hermione, you're next. Neville, you bring up the rear. Stay sharp. They may try to flank us.

Neville. Got it. Ready when you are.

Ron. Okay.

Hermione. Wait a minute. There's something wrong.

Neville. Right. We're getting shot at.

Hermione. I'm serious. Something here's not right.

Ron. [frowns] Like what? Come on, Hermione. We can't sit here all day.

Hermione reaches into the Magic.

Hermione. It's Hagrid. I can't feel his presence on the car.

Neville. He's probably just too far away. Come on. He's going to get the car shot out from under him if we don't get going.

Ron. Hang on a minute. He's okay for now. All they're using is handguns. Anyway, if things get too hot, he can always use the . . .

Ron trails off, glancing back at the false Ford Anglia.

Hermione. The underside rifle. Why isn't he using it?

Ron. Good question. Simple answer: that's not the Anglia.

Neville. What?

Ron. It's a fake. I can't believe it. These guys actually dug up another working turquoise 105E car somewhere.

Ron and Neville exchange curious looks, given the fact that they tried this same trick

Neville. Boy, they must really want you bad.

Ron. Yeah, I'm starting to get that impression myself. Got any good ideas?

Neville. I don't suppose running for it qualifies.

Hermione. Not with them sitting out there at the edge of the crater waiting to pick us off.

Ron. Yeah. And as soon as they realize we're not going to just walk into their decoy, it will probably get worse.

Hermione. Is there any way we can at least disable that car? Keep it from taking off and attacking us from above?

Ron. There are lots of ways. The problem is you have to be inside for most of them. The outside shielding isn't great, but it blocks handguns just fine.

Hermione. Will it block a lightwand?

Ron frowns at her.

Ron. You're not suggesting . . . ?

Hermione. I don't think we've got any choice. Do we?

Ron. I suppose not. All right. But I'll go.

Hermione. [shakes her head] We all go. We know they want at least one of us alive. Otherwise, they'd just have flown by overhead and blasted us. If we all go together, they won't be able to fire. We'll head straight in as if we're going aboard, then split off to the sides at the last second and take cover behind the ramp. Neville and I can fire up and inside to keep them busy while you take the lightwand and disable them.

Ron. I don't know. I think just Neville and me should go.

Hermione. No, it has to be all of us. That's the only way to guarantee they won't shoot.

Ron. What do you think?

Neville. I think it's the best chance we're going to get. But if we do it, we'd better do it fast.

Ron. Yeah.

Ron hands Hermione his rifle.

All right. Give me the lightwand.

Hermione hands Ron her lightwand.

Okay. Ready . . . go.

Ron ducks out from cover and charges for the car, crouching down as he runs to avoid fire from the vampires. Reaching the car, Ron ducks under the hull. As Hermione and Neville arrive at the ramp, they are fired on by the vampires inside the false Ford Anglia. Dropping to the ground, Hermione climbs under the ramp, firing blindly into the hatch. As she and Neville fire, Ron activates the lightwand and begins the sabotage of the car. Once the sabotage is finished, the vampires cease firing and the car begins to smoke.

You like it?

Hermione. That probably depends on whether the car is about to blow up. What did you do?

Ron retrieves his rifle and hands the lightwand back to Hermione.

Ron. Cut through the coolant lines to the main drive. That's all their pressurized korfaise gas floating away.

Hermione. I thought coolant gases were dangerous to breathe.

Ron. They are. But korfaise is lighter than air, so we won't have any trouble down here. Inside the car is another matter. I hope.

Hermione. They've stopped shooting.

Ron. You're right. Not just the ones inside the car, either.

Hermione. I wonder what they're up to.

A thundering noise sounds, shaking the ground with the shock wave.

What was that?

Ron. That, sweetheart, was the sound of an escape pod being jettisoned. Probably modified for atmospheric maneuvering. Never realized before how loud those things were.

Hermione. They usually take off in vacuum. So, now what?

Ron. Now, we collect our escort and get out of here.

Hermione. Our escort? What esc . . . ?

Three Firebolts descend toward Avalon, drawn in by the smoke coming from the Anglia.

You did that deliberately, didn't you?

Ron. Well, sure. Why just disable a car when you can disable it and send up a distress signal at the same time? You know, sometimes I still amaze myself.

Exit all.