Very early the next morning, Harry was in the Dursley's bathroom, getting ready to leave. He needed to shave badly, but he wasn't about to use anything that may have touched Vernon Dursley. As he washed his face, he heard a knock on the door. It was Hermione.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." Harry dried off his face and looked again in the mirror. "You know, I was thinking…"

"I guess you're entitled to do that eventually."

"I was thinking," Harry continued, "Maybe we should change the way we look. I mean, the Death Eaters know what we look like. Maybe if we were different, they might not notice us."

"Actually, that's a good idea." Hermione said. "You know what – we could stop in Diagon Alley, since we're going to London anyway." The three of them had agreed to go to a wizarding library somewhere in London that Hermione had heard about.

"We don't even have to go there. Wait – yes we do. I don't have any muggle money. You think it'll be horrible in Gringotts?"

"Yeah… Well, I have some money. As long as we're not too expensive."

"Too expensive for what?" Ron asked, poking his head in the door. Harry explained the plan. Ron looked slightly shocked.

"Are you up for it?" Harry asked him.

"I guess."

"You need to cut your hair anyway." Hermione pointed out.

"It's not that. It's just – I've never been into a muggle barber shop before."

"It's not that bad." Hermione said. "Almost the same. Except they actually cut it with their hands. None of that floating scissors stuff." The three of them walked to the room to grab their things, and then headed for the door. Hermione continued to convince Ron while Harry left a note to his aunt and uncle thanking them for letting them stay.

Harry met up with the two of them outside. "Where will we apparate to?" Ron asked. "If not in Diagon Alley, I mean. Won't the muggles notice?"

"I have a better idea." Harry said. "I hate apparation anyway."

"What's that?" Harry told him to light his wand and point it to the sky. "Why? It's light enough out here."

"Just do it." Within seconds, a purple triple-decker bus came zooming from the sky.

"The Knight Bus." Hermione mumbled. "Of course…"

Harry was the first to board. He was glad to see that Stan Shunpike had been released and was back to his old job. Harry greeted him and sat down. "You might want to strap yourselves in," he told Ron and Hermione.

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The plan went like this: the three of them each went to separate places (that weren't too far apart, incase something happened). Then they were to come out onto the street and see if they recognized each other. If not, then the plan had worked.

Harry made a different stop first – an eye doctor. He figured that the biggest give away was the glasses, as they were quite odd looking. He needed something different. Luckily, Harry had found a magical eye healer, so he could use his own money. The healer checked his eyes quickly, and then let Harry choose from the frames. He chose a thinner, plastic frame, with a green and black swirl in it. The healer insisted that they matched his eyes the best, but Harry didn't really care. Once the new lenses were popped into the frames, Harry put them on and pocketed his old ones, just in case.

Now for the hair, he thought. Harry entered the nearest barbershop and had his hair cut unusually short. It looked even more poofy than normal, but the hair stylist had shown him how to make it look good. Once Harry had slipped back on the new glasses and looked in the mirror, he hardly recognized himself. He wondered if Ron and Hermione would.

Harry walked back onto the street and began searching for his friends. He knew he'd be able to spot Hermione quickly – she would never change her hair. And Ron was about three feet taller than anyone else, so he would be easy to spot. Harry turned toward Diagon Alley and started walking. He passed a girl with straight black hair, and she smiled at him. Harry thought she was quite attractive, but then he realized – I know that smile…

"Hermione?" Harry asked, turning quickly.

"Harry?" They both approached each other and laughed.

"I never thought you'd change your hair."

"I did. I guess it was necessary. Besides, I can make it curly again if I want. Nice glasses."

"Thanks. Find Ron yet?"

"No. You look that way, and I'll look this way." They both searched for a half hour, but there was no sign of him. "D'you think he got lost?" Hermione asked.

"Honestly, you two." They heard. "If I were any closer I could poke you." They spun around. It took Harry a minute to recognize his best friend. Ron had also cut his hair shorter. He was wearing sunglasses and leaning against a building. Harry thought that he looked quite like Bill, with shorter hair. The three of them burst out laughing.

"Well, that was fun." Hermione said. "But I think we need to get serious now. That library is two streets down, I think."

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Ten minutes later, the three of them were in the Magical Library of London, located underneath an old teashop. They had to enter the teashop, and then go down several floors. It reminded Harry of the ministry.

Hermione searched for anyone with the initials R.A.B, while Harry and Ron looked for anything on horcruxes. There wasn't much, and soon they both got bored. "D'you like what Hermione did with herself?" Ron asked absently.

"I guess," Harry replied.

"I always liked her hair. I didn't think she'd change it." Harry eyed him suspiciously, but then continued to read.

"Looks like Voldemort isn't the only one obsessed with horcruxes. Some wizard in the 18th century made four. But Voldemort wanted to make seven… Guess it really was never done before." Then Harry had a thought. "D'you think they have books on Hogwarts in Flourish and Blotts? I mean, besides the history one."

"I'd think so."

"We should check there too." He got up to get Hermione.

"Good luck pulling Hermy from the history section." Harry stopped. Since when did either of them call her 'Hermy'? He shook his head and continued on.

"I don't think many books have been published on Hogwarts recently." Hermione said absently as she read. "But it's worth a try. Look here – there are a few R.A.B's, but they're all long dead. Whoever R.A.B was, I don't think they ever did anything important."

"No, probably not." Harry agreed. "No one really writes books on Death Eaters anyway."

The three of them abandoned the library and headed for The Leaky Cauldron.