Hermione looked at the letter in her hand, which she had read & re-read, until she knew its contents by-heart. Her eyebrows wrinkled & her mouth in a frown, she read it again.
Dear Hermione, (it ran)
I have something important to tell you. IT'S VERY URGENT. I am not writing anything in this letter as it might be intercepted. Meet me as soon as you get this, at Knockturn Alley.
Yours truly,
Ron
Hermione found it hard to believe that the letter was from Ron. First of all, the owl which he had sent was not Errol or Pigwidgeon. It could be some other owl, which Ron had borrowed or maybe the Wealeys had got a new owl. But they were not wallowing in riches to be able to afford a new owl. Secondly, the letter was not characteristic of Ron. For one thing, he usually didn't sign himself as 'Yours truly'. It was usually just 'Ron'. And finally, his asking her to meet him at Knockturn Alley, was the part Hermione found inexplicable. The other things, she could explain away, but this meeting at Knockturn Alley, which was famous (or maybe notorious would be a better word) for The Dark Arts artifacts, which it sold, was puzzling her. Questions buzzed through her head. Why on earth would Ron want to meet her at Knockturn Alley, of all places? Why couldn't he meet her at his place? What was that important thing, which he had to tell her? She considered sending an owl to Ron, asking him if it was he who had sent the letter. But the heavily underlined sentence 'It's very urgent' caught her eyes & she hesitated. What if Ron was in some kind of danger? Thrusting aside the voice, which told her that it would be better to ascertain if Ron had sent the letter, before proceeding to Knockturn Alley, Hermione rushed downstairs.
"Mom! Dad! We need to go to Diagon Alley to get my supplies. I got the letter from Hogwarts today."
She had, in fact got the letter two days before, but she had wanted to go along with Ron & Harry to get the supplies. It now provided a perfect excuse for her to go down to Diagon Alley. From there to Knockturn Alley would be quite easy. After all, during her 2nd year she had seen Harry coming out from it, and she knew that she would be able to recognize it. She would ask her parents to drop her off at Diagon Alley and pick her up later.
About half-an-hour later, Hermione was standing inside Knockturn Alley, looking all around her for a sign of Ron. After about 15 minutes of futile search, (during which she was accosted by witches & hags of doubtful precedents) she gave up. She was about to go back to Diagon Alley to get herself a drink, when she caught a flash of red hair going inside a hotel called 'The Dark Diner'. The name itself gave her the creeps, but she squared her shoulders & went inside. Coming from the harsh sunlight into a dark room, she was momentarily blinded. She blinked once or twice for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There were 4 or 5 tables, but there was no sign of anybody. Maybe she was mistaken in thinking that she had seen somebody with red hair going inside. But no, the red hair was too vivid for her to have been mistaken. She was just about to call out & see if anybody was there, when there suddenly materialized before her, a waiter. Hermione gave a startled cry.
"Please don't be alarmed, madam." Said the waiter, bowing. "You are waiting for somebody, are you not?"
Hermione nodded, too stunned to be able to reply.
"He asked me to bring you to his room upstairs."
All the qualms, which she had felt before now came back to her with full force. She knew that she must get away. "No thanks." She said, trying to back away. "Tell him that I've waited for him long enough and now I've got to go."
Seeing the disbelief on her face, he produced a note.
Hermione,
I'm in room no.5. The waiter will bring you.
Ron.
It was just like Ron's untidy scrawl. Hermione hesitated. "Why couldn't he come down & see me here?" she asked the waiter. She didn't hear his reply because her attention was caught by 2 boys with red hair & freckles coming out of the restroom.
"Fred! George! What are you doing here?"
Fred & George Weasley turned thunder-stuck faces towards her.
"Hermione!" exclaimed Fred.
Hermione thought she detected a note of fear in his voice.
"What a pleasant surprise!" said George trying to act nonchalant, but failing.
"Yeah. Fancy meeting you here!" said Fred.
Both Fred's & George's faces were beet-red, matching their hair. The Weasleys were amazingly bad at hiding their emotions. Hermione could see that there was something going on, which they didn't want her or anybody else to know. Otherwise why would they be at Knockturn Alley?
"What are you doing here?" she asked, again.
"Uh…we came to buy some things."
"At Knockturn Alley?" asked Hermione skeptically. What was it suddenly with the Weasleys & Knockturn Alley? First Ron, & now Fred & George.
Fred & George looked at each other uneasily. "There's nothing for it, George." Said Fred shaking his head. "We'll have to tell her the truth."
"Yeah. She's bound to sniff out our lies anyway." Said George.
Hermione looked at them, bewildered. What was going on?
"You better sit down, Hermione." Fred said, taking her firmly by the shoulders & propelling her towards one of the tables. Nobody took any notice of the waiter who stood, impatiently tapping his feet.
George told her about Ginny's disappearance. Hermione's eyes widened as she heard the tale.
"Oh my God! How awful!"
"Mum didn't want the news to spread. You know how people talk. The Ministry is busy enough as it is."
Hermione nodded.
"Mum wanted us to buy some things from here, for making a spell. The spell will tell us which was the last spell that was used in Ginny's room. With that maybe we can-"
"Maybe it was this that Ron wanted to tell me!" said Hermione, interrupting George.
Fred & George turned bewildered faces towards her. "Ron? Where does Ron come in?"
Hermione showed them the letter, which she had received from Ron.
"But this is impossible!" exclaimed Fred. "Ron is away on holiday with Charlie, in Romania."
"In Romania." repeated Hermione, faintly.
"Yeah. As you know, Charlie works with Dragons over there. He suddenly came into an unexpected amount of money. He decided to sponsor one of us to come over there. Bill has already been there. Percy didn't want to leave the Ministry at their time of crisis. We didn't want to go without each other. Ron was the only one left, so he went. He sent both you & Harry a letter before he left. Didn't you get it?"
Hermione shook her head.
Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."
"What I want to know is," said George, "who is the person who sent this letter to Hermione signing it as 'Ron'?"
"Are you supposed to meet him (whoever he is) here, Hermione?" asked Fred.
"Yeah, he is one of the rooms above." She handed him the note.
"Hmm..Fishy. Definitely fishy."
"Let's all 3 of us go meet him & find out what it's all about." Said George.
Hermione thought it was a good suggestion. She was very curious about the whole affair.
All three of them followed the waiter upstairs. The waiter pointed to a room & then went back downstairs.
Hermione knocked. There was no answer.
"Maybe he has fallen asleep." Suggested Fred. "You shouldn't have kept him waiting, Hermione." He said, wagging his finger at her.
Hermione ignored him & went inside. Fred & George followed her. There was no sign of anybody.
"HELLOOOO!" called out Fred. "Anybody home?"
"Shh." Said Hermione. "I hear something."
Sure enough, they could hear noises coming from the bathroom. Hermione moved towards the bathroom door.
"Wait!" said George.
"What is it?" asked Hermione impatiently.
"There might be something dangerous inside. Step aside & let a man do the job."
Hermione rolled her eyes & opened the door resolutely.
She had time only to register that some kind of whirlwind was moving towards her, before she felt the ground slip beneath her feet & felt herself going round & round.
Dear Hermione, (it ran)
I have something important to tell you. IT'S VERY URGENT. I am not writing anything in this letter as it might be intercepted. Meet me as soon as you get this, at Knockturn Alley.
Yours truly,
Ron
Hermione found it hard to believe that the letter was from Ron. First of all, the owl which he had sent was not Errol or Pigwidgeon. It could be some other owl, which Ron had borrowed or maybe the Wealeys had got a new owl. But they were not wallowing in riches to be able to afford a new owl. Secondly, the letter was not characteristic of Ron. For one thing, he usually didn't sign himself as 'Yours truly'. It was usually just 'Ron'. And finally, his asking her to meet him at Knockturn Alley, was the part Hermione found inexplicable. The other things, she could explain away, but this meeting at Knockturn Alley, which was famous (or maybe notorious would be a better word) for The Dark Arts artifacts, which it sold, was puzzling her. Questions buzzed through her head. Why on earth would Ron want to meet her at Knockturn Alley, of all places? Why couldn't he meet her at his place? What was that important thing, which he had to tell her? She considered sending an owl to Ron, asking him if it was he who had sent the letter. But the heavily underlined sentence 'It's very urgent' caught her eyes & she hesitated. What if Ron was in some kind of danger? Thrusting aside the voice, which told her that it would be better to ascertain if Ron had sent the letter, before proceeding to Knockturn Alley, Hermione rushed downstairs.
"Mom! Dad! We need to go to Diagon Alley to get my supplies. I got the letter from Hogwarts today."
She had, in fact got the letter two days before, but she had wanted to go along with Ron & Harry to get the supplies. It now provided a perfect excuse for her to go down to Diagon Alley. From there to Knockturn Alley would be quite easy. After all, during her 2nd year she had seen Harry coming out from it, and she knew that she would be able to recognize it. She would ask her parents to drop her off at Diagon Alley and pick her up later.
About half-an-hour later, Hermione was standing inside Knockturn Alley, looking all around her for a sign of Ron. After about 15 minutes of futile search, (during which she was accosted by witches & hags of doubtful precedents) she gave up. She was about to go back to Diagon Alley to get herself a drink, when she caught a flash of red hair going inside a hotel called 'The Dark Diner'. The name itself gave her the creeps, but she squared her shoulders & went inside. Coming from the harsh sunlight into a dark room, she was momentarily blinded. She blinked once or twice for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There were 4 or 5 tables, but there was no sign of anybody. Maybe she was mistaken in thinking that she had seen somebody with red hair going inside. But no, the red hair was too vivid for her to have been mistaken. She was just about to call out & see if anybody was there, when there suddenly materialized before her, a waiter. Hermione gave a startled cry.
"Please don't be alarmed, madam." Said the waiter, bowing. "You are waiting for somebody, are you not?"
Hermione nodded, too stunned to be able to reply.
"He asked me to bring you to his room upstairs."
All the qualms, which she had felt before now came back to her with full force. She knew that she must get away. "No thanks." She said, trying to back away. "Tell him that I've waited for him long enough and now I've got to go."
Seeing the disbelief on her face, he produced a note.
Hermione,
I'm in room no.5. The waiter will bring you.
Ron.
It was just like Ron's untidy scrawl. Hermione hesitated. "Why couldn't he come down & see me here?" she asked the waiter. She didn't hear his reply because her attention was caught by 2 boys with red hair & freckles coming out of the restroom.
"Fred! George! What are you doing here?"
Fred & George Weasley turned thunder-stuck faces towards her.
"Hermione!" exclaimed Fred.
Hermione thought she detected a note of fear in his voice.
"What a pleasant surprise!" said George trying to act nonchalant, but failing.
"Yeah. Fancy meeting you here!" said Fred.
Both Fred's & George's faces were beet-red, matching their hair. The Weasleys were amazingly bad at hiding their emotions. Hermione could see that there was something going on, which they didn't want her or anybody else to know. Otherwise why would they be at Knockturn Alley?
"What are you doing here?" she asked, again.
"Uh…we came to buy some things."
"At Knockturn Alley?" asked Hermione skeptically. What was it suddenly with the Weasleys & Knockturn Alley? First Ron, & now Fred & George.
Fred & George looked at each other uneasily. "There's nothing for it, George." Said Fred shaking his head. "We'll have to tell her the truth."
"Yeah. She's bound to sniff out our lies anyway." Said George.
Hermione looked at them, bewildered. What was going on?
"You better sit down, Hermione." Fred said, taking her firmly by the shoulders & propelling her towards one of the tables. Nobody took any notice of the waiter who stood, impatiently tapping his feet.
George told her about Ginny's disappearance. Hermione's eyes widened as she heard the tale.
"Oh my God! How awful!"
"Mum didn't want the news to spread. You know how people talk. The Ministry is busy enough as it is."
Hermione nodded.
"Mum wanted us to buy some things from here, for making a spell. The spell will tell us which was the last spell that was used in Ginny's room. With that maybe we can-"
"Maybe it was this that Ron wanted to tell me!" said Hermione, interrupting George.
Fred & George turned bewildered faces towards her. "Ron? Where does Ron come in?"
Hermione showed them the letter, which she had received from Ron.
"But this is impossible!" exclaimed Fred. "Ron is away on holiday with Charlie, in Romania."
"In Romania." repeated Hermione, faintly.
"Yeah. As you know, Charlie works with Dragons over there. He suddenly came into an unexpected amount of money. He decided to sponsor one of us to come over there. Bill has already been there. Percy didn't want to leave the Ministry at their time of crisis. We didn't want to go without each other. Ron was the only one left, so he went. He sent both you & Harry a letter before he left. Didn't you get it?"
Hermione shook her head.
Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."
"What I want to know is," said George, "who is the person who sent this letter to Hermione signing it as 'Ron'?"
"Are you supposed to meet him (whoever he is) here, Hermione?" asked Fred.
"Yeah, he is one of the rooms above." She handed him the note.
"Hmm..Fishy. Definitely fishy."
"Let's all 3 of us go meet him & find out what it's all about." Said George.
Hermione thought it was a good suggestion. She was very curious about the whole affair.
All three of them followed the waiter upstairs. The waiter pointed to a room & then went back downstairs.
Hermione knocked. There was no answer.
"Maybe he has fallen asleep." Suggested Fred. "You shouldn't have kept him waiting, Hermione." He said, wagging his finger at her.
Hermione ignored him & went inside. Fred & George followed her. There was no sign of anybody.
"HELLOOOO!" called out Fred. "Anybody home?"
"Shh." Said Hermione. "I hear something."
Sure enough, they could hear noises coming from the bathroom. Hermione moved towards the bathroom door.
"Wait!" said George.
"What is it?" asked Hermione impatiently.
"There might be something dangerous inside. Step aside & let a man do the job."
Hermione rolled her eyes & opened the door resolutely.
She had time only to register that some kind of whirlwind was moving towards her, before she felt the ground slip beneath her feet & felt herself going round & round.