THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER – THE MAGIC THIEF
In the years that followed the 'Last Stand of Hogwarts' the wizard world and the muggle world had been thrown into turmoil; the lines that kept the two worlds apart were more blurred than ever before. The acts of Voldemort and his followers leading up to it had meant more and more muggles knew about the wizarding world and were now beginning to ask questions about the existence of magic, how did some have it why others did not, and how it came to be….
Chapter 1
Gertrude Pennybottom left the Ministry of Magic after an exhausting day working on the welcome desk. Returning to the busy streets, it was an overcast day and a little on the chilly side. Her hair was neatly made under her black hat, she had a thick flowery coat on, a smart black dress, tights and some smart black shoes, she didn't look out of place compared to anyone else on the street. She stood on the pavement outside the entrance and reached into her handbag to get some tissue, and as she pulled it out of the bag her wand fell to the floor. She bent down quickly and scooped it back up and put it back safely into her handbag and made her way to catch the bus back to her home in the small wizarding village of Windy Willows. She passed a person dressed all in black leaning against a lamp post just across the road from the entrance to the Ministry without a care in the world, she hadn't noticed them watching the entrance or noticed them quickly change focus onto her when she had dropped her wand and as she passed the figure in black, Gertrude hadn't notice them begin to follow her at a distance.
Gertrude arrived at the place where the day bus would stop – unlike the Knight Bus that would pick you up wherever you wanted, it was felt the day bus would be better using time tables and stops – to take here home. It wasn't long before it arrived, and she entered the bus.
"Good evening," she said smiling at the driver, before taking her seat. The figure in black boarded the bus quickly behind her and scanned the people who were on the bus dressed in all sorts of ways; some looked like everyone else on the streets around 'normal' and others wore wizarding robes and hats, they then made their way to a seat near the back. No-one battered an eyelid at the person dressed head-to-toe in black.
It wasn't long before the bus stopped on a quiet street in Windy Willows just around the corner from where Gertrude lived, she got off the bus and made her way home for the evening. The person in black also exited the bus, and after a short while surveying the place they were, they continued following Gertrude.
That night Gertrude Pennybottom was fast asleep in her bed when the bedroom window quietly began to open. As it opened wider, the figure in black climbed through making almost no sound and stood at the end of the bed. The only part of the person in black that was visible was a pair of brown eyes that studied the sleeping figure in front of them. They looked around the small room then back at the bed, now satisfied that Gertrude was in a deep sleep and would most likely stay that way. The figure made their way around the side of the bed until they were in easy reach of the head. As they stood looming over the sleeping witch, they removed something from their right trouser pocket, then removed the glove from their right hand and put it in the pocket the object had come from. The object was a slight transparent black stone with a red vein-looking line running diagonally through the middle from the bottom to the top that was now held in a clasp in her hand. They went into the left pocket and pulled out a wand and quick as a flash lunged at Gertrude and pressed the stone firmly to Gertrude's forehead.
Almost immediately, the red vein began to glow and pulse, and Gertrude's eyes opened wide and immediately rolled back into her head and her body went stiff. The brown eyes of the attacker began to glow slightly golden. Gertrude took a long struggling breath in, then as she exhaled, her eyes shut and her body relaxed. The attacker pulled the stone away from her head and pushed it back into their trouser pocket, and with a flick of the wand apparated away leaving the room as dark and quiet as before, and Gertrude Pennybottom asleep in her bed none-the-wiser.