Chapter 58
The Plan for Knockturn Alley
Cassie stared at the thin pink strings in wonderment. "What are these? George handed them to me
on his way out."
"Ooh!" Ginny squealed in excitement. "They're Extendable Ears. George obviously wants you to
hear what's going on in there. Here, I'll help you with them." Cassie was just about to hand them
to Ginny when they all heard two pops. Cassie instinctively hid the box behind her back before she
turned to look at the two new visitors. The first looked like he could be a beggar or homeless
person and the cloud of tobacco smoke that accompanied him made Cassie's eyes water. The
second was, well, scary looking. It was hard to tell which of the two was older as they both had
that sort of older-than-dirt look and their faces had both weathered to the color of mahogany. The
second man had a wooden leg but that was not his most compelling feature. What really drew
Cassie's interest was his rugged, battle-scarred face with only a partial nose. One of his eyes was
beetle-black while the other was almost an electric blue and was swiveling about unceasingly.
Cassie tried not to stare at the blue eye although she supposed that was stupid as he obviously
knew it was there.
The two men were greeted with enthusiasm by the other students. Ginny and Hermione hugged
the taller man (carefully) while Ron and Harry shook his hand with enthusiasm. The dirtier man
was greeted kindly although Cassie noticed that no one offered to touch him, either by hugging
him or gripping his hand. However, friendly smiles were exchanged. Cassie watched Harry
particularly, as his rather aloof nature was rarely breached, and she had learned to look at his
reaction to people to know whether or not she could trust someone. Harry was perfectly relaxed
with both of them and his smile reached his eyes. Cassie had relaxed behind their backs, only to
stiffen back up as the tall man turned suddenly and fixed both eyes on her. Cassie stifled a shocked
gasp and tried not to look terrified. "Who are you?" he barked and Cassie jumped at the hard
sound of his voice.
"I'm, uh, Cassie. Cassie Robinson."
"Ah, the Muggle girl. I'm Alastor Moody."
"It's nice to meet you." Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. She tried to relax. If Harry liked
him, he must be trustworthy.
The other man stepped forward. "And I'm Mundungus Fletcher. But you can just call me Dung."
Cassie looked at him in vague shock, thinking that she must have misheard him. "Are you serious?"
"No, Dung. My name is Dung."
Cassie just nodded, trying to make sense of what he had just said. It seemed like a total non
sequitur but she didn't want to ask him any more questions. Truthfully, he smelled so bad that she
was rather anxious for him to get further away from her. Moody nodded toward the living room.
"The meeting's in there. And none of 'em look too happy. We'd better get in there soon. I think
we're late." The two men stepped toward the door. Cassie felt herself relax, looking at the others
and motioned at the men in an exaggerated expression questioning who they were, sure that there
was some fascinating story behind their odd appearance. As she did so, Moody said over his back,
"It's okay, girl, we're not going to hurt you." Cassie flipped her head to look at him, but he had
already stepped through the door.
"How did he . . ."
"His magical eye can see through the back of his head." Ginny laughed at the look on Cassie's
face.
"His given name may be Alastor, but I think you can see why everyone calls him Mad-Eye."
"Uh, yeah. Can it really see through . . ."
"It sure can," said Harry as he turned back to his dish-drying. "He can see through walls, clothing,
you name it. In fact, he can even see through invisibility cloaks."
Cassie and Ginny immediately started setting up the Extendable Ears. Ginny rolled one end of the
strings under the door, working fairly hard and making sure that they didn't poke out beyond the
edge of the door and putting them to the side where the hinge was and where (although Cassie
would never have told Molly) there was a collection of dust that made it less likely they would be
seen. Ginny helped Cassie stick the other ends into her ears, and Cassie blinked in shock, pulling
her head away instantly as a cacophony of sound erupted in her head.
"Gah! That's loud!" She scrunched her ears up against the pain in her eardrums and tried to
decipher what was going on in the other room. Ginny had evidently expected some sort of
reaction because her wand was ready a split-second later and she said some spell that dulled the
noise to a bearable level. Now she could make out individual voices and although she couldn't tell
who was talking, it was certainly obvious that they were talking about her.
"We just need to get her down the Alley as rapidly as possible, let her look around. Once she's
seen the store that she thinks is it, we hustle her out of there and . . ."
"Fine . . . fine. But if they should recognize her and kill her on the spot - do we worry about
dragging her body out of there or do we just walk on pretending we don't know her?"
Cassie's eyes opened wide and her mouth did the same. They thought she was going to be killed?!
She glanced at the others in the kitchen, talking quietly and happily, and she was unsure whether
she should say something to them or not. She didn't and she was glad because a second later a
voice that she recognized as George's came through the strings.
"Oh, for hell's sake, Moody - give it a rest! Cassie is not going to be killed on the spot! What is it
with you?"
"What? It could happen!"
"Alastor!" She thought this was Professor Dumbledore although she could have been wrong.
"Even if they knew it was her, they wouldn't kill her instantly - they are very desperate to know
who else she told about them and how much. I'm sure they'd keep her alive for a while and torture
her first." Everyone chuckled and Cassie knew he had been kidding. However, her rapidly beating
heart reacted to the words and she took a deep breath.
"Can we be serious about this, please? I'm sure that this is all very amusing - but I for one am still
unsure of the plan!" George's voice rose over the casual laughter and Cassie could tell that since
he knew she was listening, he was starting to worry about the humour at her expense.
Over the next 30 minutes every possibility of what could go right and what could go wrong was
discussed and by the end of the discussion, Cassie felt pretty confident about the plan. It was
obvious that they had done this lots of times before and knew what they were doing. She would
have to take a portkey - of course! - to George and Fred's shop where she would be met by
Tonks who would be her escort for the entire process. Tonks was told that she could do anything
necessary to get her out of there safely and by the stress put on the word "anything" Cassie knew
that this meant including kill. Moody would be behind them in an invisibility cloak, scanning the
vicinity for hidden threats and practicing what everyone jokingly called "Constant Vigilance" and
although Moody sniffed at the obvious laughter in their tones, he didn't disagree. Dung, on the
other hand, who seemed to be a permanent resident of Knockturn Alley (Cassie wasn't really
surprised to hear this), was to stroll along casually, not really by them but nearby, helping draw
out the owners of the stores if Cassie thought she recognized anyone and acting as a backup help
if something were to go wrong.
George wanted to hang around, too, but that plan was nixed by everyone because he was too
recognizable to everyone in both Diagon and Knockturn Alleys and he was told to simply stay in
the shop. He wasn't happy with this idea, but since if he didn't agree his parents threatened to
magically lock him in his room, he eventually agreed.
"I think we need to bring Miss Robinson out here and let her know about our plans. After all, she
is the main ingredient in the entire thing." At Dumbledore's words, Cassie jumped up and grabbed
the strings out of her ears. Ginny must have been keeping an eye on her because she was instantly
at her side, helping her pull them away from the door and hiding them in her pocket as the door
swung open to reveal the smiling face of her mother.
"The kitchen looks nice. Thank you, all. Cassie, I think we're ready for you. The rest of you are
welcome to go upstairs or stay down here - your choice." Nobody moved as Cassie went
nervously out into the living room. She felt instantly overwhelmed. The room was full of people.
True, she knew them all, but since they were all staring at her she felt like hiding her head in her
hands. However, not wanting them to see how afraid she really was, she forced herself to throw
her shoulders back and walk across the room, following Molly who led her to Professor
Dumbledore. Fred gave her a reassuring smile and George stood up before his father shot him a
warning look and he sat back down, scowling.
Cassie listened quietly as they outlined the plan to her and she nodded carefully, trying to make it
look like this was the first time she had heard anything about Moody, Tonks, and Dung
accompanying her on her little scouting mission. "Um, Professor?" she asked as he finished up the
recitation.
"Yes?"
"Could I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course." When she didn't immediately start talking, he seemed to sense her desire for privacy.
"Did you want to adjourn to another room?"
"Yes, please." She didn't know how stupid this idea was going to sound as she was very
unfamiliar with the magic needed and she couldn't bear the idea of anyone laughing at her. So as
they stepped through the door back into the kitchen, she was rather dismayed to see everyone still
sitting there. Normally, she would have been grateful for the moral support but not at the
moment. The Headmaster looked at the assembled group and smiled.
"How about going outside?" That sounded like a good idea, although she didn't have a cloak.
"Uh, sure. Thanks." Once they got outside, she wanted to talk quickly so that she wouldn't start
shivering before she had finished presenting her idea. He seemed impervious to the cold and was
looking at her calmly. "Professor, I don't know if this is possible or anything, but remember how
you said that Professor Snape wanted to look at my memories - that it might help somehow?"
"Yes, I remember."
"Wouldn't it just be easier to let him do that - I mean, rather than risk everyone's life and take
everyone's time to go down the Alley tomorrow and everything. I know he's mad at me because
of today, but if I knew he was doing it for a good reason, I could let him . . . you know . . . read
my mind." Her voice trailed off at the end because the thought of Professor Snape probing deep
into her brain was unappetizing to say the least. The older man looked at her for a moment.
"So . . . he was telling me the truth? You were able to keep him out of your mind? I had assumed
that he was simply angry about . . . the colors in his hair. He tends to misinterpret other people's
reactions toward him - usually not in a positive way, as I'm sure you could not fail to notice." He
sounded so discouraged with this statement that Cassie had a thought to pat him on the shoulder,
but didn't. It would have been a crossing of the boundary that was still very present between them.
"Yes. And if you're going to ask me how I do it, I couldn't tell you. Harry said that I shouldn't be
able to do it because it's advanced magic, but I don't think I'm doing magic, I just don't like the
feeling of him probing around in there. It feels weird and I just push him away." Professor
Dumbledore nodded calmly and didn't look shocked or anything which made Cassie feel a little
better. But then she started to babble, elaborating on her idea and covering the same material
again, before the Professor held up his hand, and she shut her mouth, suddenly feeling as gauche
and stupid as a 5-year-old child.
"I understand what you are asking me, Miss Robinson. I am trying to decide how to answer you.
Give me a moment, please." She bit her lip and felt the shivers begin. She was decidedly chilled
and hoped he would think quickly. Finally, about five minutes later, he looked up at her. She felt a
warmth and realized that he had cast a warming spell around her. "I should have sent you for your
cloak. Forgive me."
"It's all right. I won't die from this weather." He smiled faintly.
"I will try to explain this so that you understand it. Harry has told me, and I'm afraid he is right,
that I don't make things very easy to comprehend. Severus was, quite honestly, not doing
anything quite so magnanimous as attempting to solve your problem. If it were that easy, I would
have done it instantly. For you see, my girl, I can do Legilemency as well. When you arrived at
Hogwarts it would have taken me but two minutes to peer inside your brain and isolate all those
memories and then I could have sent you back home without any further difficulty. And I dare say
with all due respect to Severus' skill that I could have done it without your knowing it." He
sighed, and walked to the edge of the porch where he stared out onto the frozen landscape for a
few minutes before he turned back to face her. "He told me that had been his intention, but I knew
that this was not true even when he said it because I had specifically forbidden him from doing
this when I told him the truth about who you are and why you are here. I think he was
embarrassed that he had been . . . snooping and he wanted to justify himself to me. Very, uh,
Slytherin of him although of course I did not tell him that earlier today. He was already angry
enough."
"But . . ." Cassie was really confused now. She had had no idea that Professor Dumbledore could
have attempted to read her mind and she really didn't understand why he hadn't offered to begin
with. It would have all been so much easier.
"Memory is a fragile thing, a delicate thing. A thing so strongly influenced by outside factors that
it is hard to even describe. Do you agree with that?" Cassie just shook her head and he continued.
"It happens often on the witness stand in the Muggle world, I'm sure you would have seen a
movie about this sometime in your life. A witness swears they saw something or someone that
turns out to be physically impossible. And they aren't lying - they may have an honest memory of
that thing happening, but it is a false memory." Cassie drew her eyebrows low over her eyes and
thought for a minute.
"I always assumed they were tricked somehow."
"Not always. The slightest suggestion can make a memory shift. One's perception of what
happened can often be the strongest influence on how you remember something. My . . . or
anyone else's -- idea of what happened could make your memory change were you to be exposed
to it. I told Severus very strongly that in absolutely no way was he to try to see your memories of
that night as his probing them could somehow ruin them. And I'm afraid I could do no better."
This time, it was he who shook his head as he tried to put his feelings into words that she could
understand. "Let's say for instance that I tried it and I entered your mind and found the memory,
the specific instant of memory, when you looked through that open door and saw a collection of
eight wizards sitting there staring back at you."
"Yeah, okay." To Cassie, that sounded like blessed relief. Maybe that was why she was being so
forceful about this idea, because she thought that having someone like Professor Dumbledore, or
even Professor Snape, take over all the responsibility of identifying the remaining wizards would
allow her to go back to her family. She could shed the responsibility like an ill-fitting coat and let
someone else do this job that she never wanted to do in the first place.
"So, when I look through that door, I instantly recognize all of them, or I think I do. After all, I
am only seeing the way you remember them - and it may not be a perfectly accurate
representation. I attach names to all of them and suddenly that is set in stone. You will also
remember them that way - whether that is really them or not. Our minds would, uh, merge my
ideas with your memories and the honesty of your memories would be polluted forever. Do you
understand me?"
"Uh . . . sort of." She thought about this for a while, going over each word again. "But isn't there
some way we can sort of isolate the memories so that your perception of them can't change
them?" He turned and looked at her and the light of triumph in his eyes surprised her.
"Yes. Yes there is. It is not easy and we cannot do it right now. But it can be done. And believe
me when I tell you that I am working very hard on getting it ready. Give me another week or so
and I think we can do it that way."
"Well, then . . . why this whole shop thing?"
"I think that every day that passes, the situation becomes more and more untenable - not only for
your family and you, but for the Order and for your Prime Minister and for Tonks and, well, the
list goes on. If you were to suddenly remember everything tomorrow, it would be better than
waiting. Does that make sense to you?"
"Definitely. The sooner we can get this done the better in my opinion." Her vehemence surprised
even her, because she liked it here. She just wanted it over - all the uncertainty and the fear and
the dark looks at the stories in the Daily Prophet every morning.
"I agree. So, I guess my question is, Miss Robinson, is are you willing to go tomorrow and see if
you can remember anything else?"
"Yes. But what's going to change in a week that would make it different from now?"
"I don't want to really tell you as it might worry you and I don't want that. Let me just say that I
am preparing a potion -- an extremely complicated and rare potion. I've never made it in my life
and I didn't even want to ask Severus to do it. And it simply takes a long time to make."
"Oh." That was the last thing she expected him to say. She thought maybe some magical
alignment of the planets or some great powerful wizard's arrival from far away to help them, but
not a potion. "Does it take that long to make?"
"Yes. And since I'm sure someone is listening to our conversation with the Extendable Ears you
were using earlier I will not say more. I don't want them to know either until the time is right."
Cassie stared at him wide-eyed.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"No. But I have long ago learned when dealing with Misters Fred and George Weasley that the
word 'shouldn't' rarely comes into their minds." Cassie blushed and Professor Dumbledore smiled
in a sort of teasing way, the twinkle in his eyes obvious even in the dim light from the kitchen
window. "And I believe one of the twins is having quite a bad influence on you. However, since
you are happy, it is hard for me to think of discouraging your, uh, friendship." And a moment
later, he opened the door and ushered a very bright red Cassie back into the kitchen, where
George was standing waiting for her.
"Professor -"
"Don't even attempt to apologize to me. I believe it is Miss Robinson that deserves your apology.
It was she that wanted the privacy. I will be brief about telling the others what you wanted, if that
is acceptable?"
"Sure. I mean, yes. Thank you." He stepped toward the door and pushed it open. "Professor?"
"Yes?"
"I really do mean thank you. For everything."
"And you are most welcome." The six of them still in the kitchen looked at each other and Ron
grunted, running a hand through his hair which was standing on end as if he had done this several
times already. George handed her the two pale pink strings.
"He knows me very well. I'm sorry that your idea didn't work. Truthfully, I never thought of it,
before tonight I mean."
"No - I didn't know that Professor Snape could really look for a specific memory or anything. I
thought he was just being a nosy git." Harry laughed.
"Yeah - he has a knack for pulling out all the stuff you really wish he'd never looked at. Trust me.
I know." Ginny stood up and kissed Harry gently on the cheek.
"Don't think about Snivellus right now, luv. Anyone in the mood for hot chocolate?" She started
the kettle as everyone murmured their approval to the idea. Over the next few minutes, all six of
them, as well as Fred, sipped hot cocoa and carried on pleasant small talk with the visitors who
were leaving tonight, a pitiful few considering how full the living room had been. The first ones to
leave were actually the last two to arrive, Mad-Eye and "Dung." It was only after he disapparted,
leaving behind a certain pungent odor Cassie tried not to inhale, that she suddenly realized what
he had been saying earlier. It had been a sort of sick joke. She had asked if he was serious, and he
had purposely misunderstood her to say Sirius. And he had corrected her. Funny, very funny.
George asked what she was smiling about but she just shook her head.
"I'm just thinking about something. It's not important." Professor Dumbledore left soon after that
and Cassie watched the exchange between the Headmaster and Harry with interest. There was a
certain depth there that still surprised her and she wondered if Harry would ever be able to explain
their relationship - either to himself or to anyone else.
The four boys all started a game of Exploding Snap when they were done with their cocoa, but
Cassie's nerves wouldn't let her relax and enjoy watching them. Ginny and Hermione didn't seem
in any hurry to go to bed, but Cassie excused herself a few minutes later and headed up the stairs
to the bedroom.
She undressed quickly, slipping her bathrobe on so that she could go to the loo and finish her
nightly ablutions. Since everyone else was busy downstairs, she decided to indulge in a bubble
bath and then wash and curl her hair. She had just started the water and poured in the bubbles
when a faint knock sounded on the door. She opened it, unsure what was wrong but thinking that
someone probably just needed to use the toilet before she occupied the bathroom for a while. She
was pleasantly surprised to see George standing in the hallway.
"Are you all right, Cassie?"
"Yes. I'm just really tired. It's been a really long day."
"You're right. It seems like a whole week ago that we had our little . . . disagreement."
"That wasn't a disagreement, George. It was a fight."
"Okay. I've decided I like fighting with you."
"You do? What does that mean?"
"It means, I like making up with you. So . . ." She pursed her lips to keep from smiling.
"Well, maybe I haven't completely forgiven you yet!"
"I see. And is there some way I could help you forgive me faster?"
"Not that I can think of." She went back to the bathtub and turned off the faucet, looking
longingly at the thick suds floating on the surface of the water.
"What if I gave you some suggestions?" He was teasing her now and she giggled. She stood up
straight again, pulling the robe tighter around her waist.
"Okay, but make sure they're good ones."
"I could kiss you."
"You already did that earlier - and it did help, but now that I've thought about it a bit, I'm not
sure that was quite enough."
"I could . . . give you a present."
"No. That won't do."
"Why not?"
"Well, you already gave me those string things and it didn't really do anything for me."
"A better present, then?" She just shook her head.
"The roses were a big enough present. It needs to be something more . . . personal."
"I could get down on my knees and beg." She pretended to consider but then shook her head
again.
"I don't want you to have to beg."
"I could show you something special." She raised her eyebrows. His tone had been rather
suggestive and as she was standing here in the bathroom wearing nothing but a bathrobe she felt
the hot color rise in her cheeks.
"What is it?"
"It's in my bedroom." Her eyes got wide and she clutched her bathrobe.
"Uh, I'm not sure . . . I mean, what is it?" She should just say no and kick him out of the
bathroom, have a nice long soak and go to bed, but the pleading look in his eyes was hard for her
to ignore. She missed him, really, which was stupid since he hadn't been far away from her today,
but she did nonetheless.
"It was going to be part of your Christmas present, but I could show it to you now."
"So it's an actual thing?"
"Well, yeah, I -" Then his eyes got wide and his cheeks flooded with Chudley Cannon orange.
"Did you think I was, uh, suggesting that I, I . . ." She shrugged, embarrassed at admitting the
truth to him. He winked, recovering his usual demeanor quickly. "Nice as that sounds, I wasn't
being dirty with you." He took her hand and led her up one flight of stairs. She followed him up
figuring she was safer that way. At the door to his room, she paused, the list of her mum's rules
flashing into her brain and the one about not ever being a bedroom alone with him was practically
glowing neon. And the fact she was undressed - almost - probably made it worse. Well, they'd
leave the door open and she wouldn't let him touch her. They would be all right. She was afraid
that if she said she couldn't go into the room he would think she was being a baby. So she bravely
followed him into the room and over to the table where they did all of their inventing. He smiled
at her and started rummaging through a drawer.
"It's in here. I came up with it a while ago, actually, not sure when I would get it to you. But I
think you'll like it." Her heart was hammering rather quickly. Whatever it was, when he showed it
to her, he would probably want to kiss her, just to make sure that she really wasn't mad at him
anymore and then she'd have to say no and then he wouldn't believe her and it would all be a big
mess.
"George, I don't know if this is the best idea."
"I'll find it in a second. Don't worry. Your bath will still be there."
"Well, actually that's not the problem."
"Here it is." He drew a rather large box out of the drawer and set it on the surface of the desk,
brushing aside some odd looking contraptions. She bit her lip as he opened the lid. Before she
could look inside, though, there was a screech that she would have sworn echoed through the
entire Burrow.
"George Weasley! What are you thinking!?" Cassie whirled on her heel staring with shocked
horror at Molly who was looking at the two of them as though she had found them in a very
compromising position rather than just standing upright with about five feet of space between
them.
"Oh, Mum, back off. I was just -"
"And you, young lady! I don't really think your mother would approve of your being in a bedroom
with a boy in that state of undress! Do you?" Cassie wondered if she somehow knew she wasn't
wearing anything under the robe or if she assumed that she had her pyjamas on.
"No. I know she wouldn't. I'm sorry, Molly." Molly's eyes flashed at her son, but she smiled at
Cassie.
"It's okay, dear. I was young once, too. Come on. Hermione and Ginny were pretty worried about
you. Apparently, they're smart enough not to trust George!" And an extremely embarrassed
Cassie followed the tut-tutting witch out the door and down the steps leaving a spluttering red-head standing in his bedroom.
