Saturday arrived quickly and everyone was eager to go to Diagon Alley... except for the adults who would have preferred the children to stay safe at the Burrow. Harry, meanwhile, felt that members of the Order of the Phoenix would be even less accommodating to escort them if they were aware of the conspiratorial atmosphere that prevailed on the upper floors of the Weasley home. Since he had explained his project, the youngest occupants of the house tried to avoid stirring up the suspicions of the elders by offering their help, avoiding the words that could cause worry for Mrs. Weasley. It might have seemed suspicious, but all the members of the Order seemed to think that this good behavior on their part was due to the fact that the teens wanted to be able to visit the twins' shop while they were at Diagon Alley.

Regarding their number, they were not very numerous. The six plotters of the Burrow had been reached by correspondence only by one person who had become the seventh member of the band, Neville Longbottom. The latter had answered them by owl and in his letter, he proudly affirmed his determination to help Harry and his friends. His courage had increased since the attack at the Ministry and he had become much more confident. Moreover, he had managed to negotiate with his grandmother to visit Diagon Alley along with them, which would allow them to discuss their secret project together.

Secretly, it suited Harry perfectly: the seven members of the Ministry's infiltration would be the only ones to be part of the secret training he planned. As he had announced, he intended to start by becoming an animagus like his father and his godfather and so the others would do the same. But for that, they needed equipment and especially the essential books to be able to know how to succeed in such a feat. However, none of them had the kind of reading of the type "How To Become An Animagus In Ten Easy Lessons". Their project seemed to be about to fail before it even started. But by chance, today, they would go to Diagon Alley and at Flourish and Blott perhaps they could find the necessary works for the practice of Animagi. However, the members of the Order seemed to do everything to put a stick into the wheels of the small group.

Indeed, it would have been too good if they were allowed to roam at will in Diagon Alley, free as the breeze, to buy books on magics controlled by the Ministry. Worse still, aurors were going to follow them everywhere and the six young wizards had grunted at the edge of desperation when they learned that they would be watched like young children. They had boarded the Ministry cars, struggling to hide their annoyance, despite the fact that most of them were leaving the Burrow for the first time in a month. The trip was surprisingly brief and soon they went down to the Leaky Cauldron. There, they saw that, to their great joy, it would be Hagrid who would be their bodyguard.

Harry loved Hagrid and he was really happy to find him like the good old days. Nevertheless, what delighted him the most was the greatest defect of Hagrid: he was easy to deceive. He was practically certain that thanks to his cloak of invisibility, he could falsify company with the half-giant without much difficulty. But in the meantime, they had some shopping to do and it was necessary that the group separated. Initially, Hagrid was scheduled to take Harry, Ron, Edward and Hermione to Madam Malkin's shop while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would take Ginny and Luna to Flourish and Blott. But following an unfortunate remark by Mrs. Weasley about Edward's height, which had not grown much during the year, his temper tantrum and a clever suggestion from Hermione who wondered aloud whether it would be better for Mrs. Weasley to help them with the robes, Mr. Weasley made a change in the groups: Harry, Ron and Hermione, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would go buy the wizard's robes while Hagrid would take their orders to Flourish and Blott by escorting the two Ravenclaws and Ginny.

Edward loved books. Returning to Flourish and Blott was a real pleasure for the young Ravenclaw who enjoyed nothing more than a good book. However, he was also there for a mission: to try to find a book on animagi. For that, it was necessary to distract Hagrid and this mission was left rightly to Ginny and Luna who placed themselves in the legs of Hagrid, asked him questions about the dragons or imaginary creatures to make diversions, they scattered to the four corners of the shop so that the half giant has trouble finding them despite his large size.

Meanwhile, Edward had reached the rarest magic section and was scanning the shelves. It took him several minutes to find a small section devoted to animagus. There, he cursed his bad luck: the shelving had a small sign on which he was marked:

The magic of these shelves are strictly controlled by the Ministry.

Anyone purchasing one of these books will be required to provide proof of their identity and their name will be recorded in a file in the Magic Abuses Service as possible.

Sale of these books is prohibited to anyone under the age of seventeen, anyone who has been sentenced to Azkaban, or anyone who is under investigation by the Ministry.

Realizing that he could not buy any of the books for their Animagus training, Edward decided to choose one of the smaller books to read as quickly as possible in order to have at least some information to report to others. When Hagrid finally found him, he almost had to drag him out of the shop as the young alchemist was fascinated by what he was reading. Luckily, Hagrid did not ask him why he was in that particular corner of the bookstore. They joined the Weasley parents as well as the Golden Trio. Mr. Weasley was furious and comforted his wife that Draco Malfoy's mother had apparently insulted. The trio was in no better mood, especially Harry who found that the arrogant behavior of his nemesis was annoying more than anything.

At the Apothecary, Edward and Harry bought their potion kit together, much to Ron's surprise as he still thought he would not have to go to Professor Snape's class because of the E in Potion. The two boys were careful not to tell him about their future potion teacher, deciding that a joke at his expense could not hurt him. They made him believe simply that they might need it for their project. After that, they made a tour at Eeyelops and bought boxes of special owl treats for their respective owls. Finally came the moment they were all waiting for: the visit to Fred and George's shop, a long-awaited visit, especially by Hermione who still had not managed to get rid of her magical black eye.

When they saw the colorful and sparkling shop and the poster for U-No-Poo, Edward and Harry burst out laughing, followed quickly by Ron who, despite his fears of the dark wizard, found the word play excellent. They obviously didn't share the same opinion as Mrs. Weasley who moaned that her sons were going to be murdered in their beds... The group finally entered the shop and marveled at the incredible inventions of the twins: Daydream Charms, Wonderous Wands, Skiving Snackboxes, sweets of all kinds, Muggle Magic... On the other hand, what amused Edward less, it was the little dolls with his likeness, similar to the one he had received for Christmas who repeated his most inventive replies when were said synonyms for "small". Apparently, sales of this product worked quite well. Unfortunately for Fred and George, Edward was ruthless and unimpressed by the joke and the twins had already met his revenge and sucker punch at the previous Christmas. They managed to negotiate a 30% sales share for this product that satisfied the young wizard enough.

Shortly after, the twins showed Harry and Edward their range of Defense Against the Dark Arts stuff, their best sellers. As the two boys were now part of their trading partners, the twins were quite willing to give them rebates or offer them some of the most ingenious products. Edward made a big order, taking advantage of promotions and buying the Shield cloaks, thinking they would alleviate his weakness in casting protective spells. He also bought explosives, powder of instant darkness and Extendable Ears. The perfect kit for spying without resorting to alchemy.

Ginny was soon harassed by her brothers about the problem of her love life, which her brothers were too interested in for her taste. She tried all possible diversion maneuvers by looking at the products of the twins with little success... Ron, meanwhile, was not as lucky as Harry because apparently the brother discount was one knut. His rude gesture was, unfortunately for him, glimpsed by Mrs. Weasley who threatened to stick his fingers together.

At the same time, Ron, Harry, and Ed spotted Draco, who seemed to have ditched his mother and sneaked discreetly between passers-by. It did not take more than a few moments for the four young wizards to similarly escape the Weasleys and Hagrid, who were far too distracted. They eventually spotted Draco Malfoy heading for Knockturn Alley, a street infamous for dark magic. In turn, the group headed down the almost deserted alley where most of the shops were empty. But they eventually found Malfoy in Borgin and Burke. Luckily, Ron had brought his Extendable Ears and the door of the shop had no protective charm, a crucial mistake.

"You know how to fix it?" asked the haughty voice of Malfoy.

"Maybe I should look at it, why do not you bring it to the store?" Borgin asked reluctantly.

"I can't, it has to stay where it is, I just want you to explain to me how to do it."

Borgin seemed worried.

"If I do not see it, I have to say it will be very difficult, maybe even impossible, I can not guarantee you anything."

"No?" Malfoy replied contemptuously, adding, "In this case, maybe this will make you more sure of yourself..." He then added threateningly to Borgin, who was now terrified: "If you tell anyone, there will be retaliation. You know Fenrir Greyback? He's a friend of my family, he'll visit you from time to time to make sure you give the matter the attention it deserves."

"It is useless to..."

"I would judge for myself, well, I have to go now, and do not forget to put it aside, I need it."

"Maybe you can take it now?" asked the seller, full of hope.

"Certainly not, you stupid little man! What would I look like if I wore it on the street? Don't sell it, that's all."

"Of course not, sir..."

The farewells followed and Ron rewound the ears to a satisfactory length before asking:

"What could they be talking about?"

"I don't know," Hermione whispered, "he wants something fixed and a similar object put aside. Did anyone see what they were talking about?

"No," Ron mumbled, bored.

"I think it must be something cumbersome or bright, impossible to conceal," Harry whispered as he explained his deduction: "He said what he would look like if he carried that on the street..."

"And these two objects seem to form a pair or at least, objects made to interact together..." Edward continued, holding his chin, his eyes serious.

"I'll go see what it is." Hermione decided.

"No way, I'm better than you." Edward decreed, then, without giving him time to protest, he grabbed Ron's black cloak, placed it on his head as if to make himself a hood, pushed the outraged young wizard under Harry's cloak and entered the shop.

Dressed in this way, he must have looked exactly like the customers this guy had to welcome: shady people, anxious to protect their identity. The shop was grim: skulls and bone-based items were lurking in every corner. Old silver jewels and weapons worthy of the Middle Ages were displayed in shop windows. In one corner of the room, old books piled up on shelves and on some blankets, stains were spreading, strangely resembling blood. Edward glanced at it with a very interested look before he asked for a light, taking a hoarse and disturbing voice in front of the small shopkeeper who had stared at him anxiously since he had entered his shop:

"Have you any books dealing with Animagi, especially not listed by the Ministry. Of course, I presume that this is not your kind of shop."

"We only have one, the title is Reveal your Inner Animal. It costs twenty galleons," said the seller, seeming relieved and almost happy to deal with a virtually ordinary customer. He presented him with a small leather book of different animals.

"I'll take it for ten galleons." said Edward while meandering around the shop to get right to the location Malfoy had been a few minutes ago.

"Eighteen Galleons," Barjow exclaimed, finding himself in an activity he knew well and gradually losing his guard.

"Thirteen." said Edward staring at all the objects that might have been of interest to Malfoy and who had been in his field of vision: the wardrobe, a necklace of opal, a roll of hangman's rope, a reduced skull, several jewels, a huge sealed vase with talismans...

"Fifteen is my last offer." said the little salesman.

"Sold, pack it, please." Edward agreed with satisfaction. Then he turned to the now relaxed salesman and asked:

"How much for this vase?"

"Six hundred and thirty gallons, no one has dared to unseal it and no one knows if a treasure or a demon is hiding there." Explained the old man with a toothless smile.

"Interesting ... And this wardrobe?"

"Not for sale!" The salesman hurriedly replied, casting a worried look at the door from which Draco Malfoy had gone. "It's part of the store!"

"Too bad," Edward sighs as he picks up his book and walks out of the shop to join his friends. The latter waited impatiently for him and he joined them under the cloak, saying in a satisfied tone:

"Two birds with one stone!"

"I can not believe you dared to haggle a book in a black magic shop." Ron whispered glued to Hermione under the cloak.

"It was to make him lower his guard, and this book was way too expensive!" protested Ed in an indignant murmur.

"Why did you ask for information only for the vase and cabinet?" Ron asked, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. "There might be other things that might interest Malfoy."

"Yes, but I guess they were easier to hide. Remember, Malfoy seemed to be talking about a cumbersome object or something that would stand out on the street, so hard to hide." Hermione explained.

"In that case, I guess it's the cabinet because Borgin refused to sell it..." Harry shrugged thoughtfully.

"I think so, too," Edward said.

"But what does Malfoy intend to do with a wardrobe?" Ron asked halfheartedly as the small group reached Diagon Alley.

"That, I don't know." sighed the Amestrian.

"Hey, isn't that Neville over there, near Fred and George's, talking to Ginny and Luna?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"It is! And without his grandmother! Lucky us!" Ron said dragging the others with a sturdy step towards the small group.

"Neville, it's us!" Hermione breathed as she brushed past Ginny and Luna to warn them of their presence.

"I was beginning to think we wouldn't see each other," said Neville in a relieved tone. "My grandmother refused to let me go but I left her at Madam Malkin's place during her fitting."

"Good job!" exclaimed Ron admiringly at the courage and skill of his friend.

"We don't have a lot of time!" Ginny whispered, "Mom is starting to notice you're out, you have to hurry back home to reassure her!"

"Just a minute," Edward whispered as he pulled out a sheet of paper with his careful handwriting on it, "it's a vital plant list for the Animagus project."

"Belladonna, Poppy, Mandrake, Sage of the divine ... The Mandrake, we have specimens in one of our greenhouses, the sage of the diviner is exotic, but Professor Sprout can get it for me because I'm her favorite. I'll say that it is to grow crops in my greenhouse... All these plants have a notorious hallucinogenic effect, it is to go into a trance during a ritual? "

"Anyway, that's what this book said at Flourish and Blott..." Edward said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, I'm sure Neville will be able to cope, he's the plant specialist here!" Ginny decreed in a firm tone. "You go back to Mom before she thinks you've been kidnapped by Death Eaters."

The four young wizards were quick to join the Weasleys who were actually starting to worry. They lied, explaining that they had stayed quietly in the back shop trying on some interesting products. Mrs. Weasley seemed a bit skeptical, but the joy of finding her brood prevented her from asking more inquisitive questions. They made their way back to the Burrow, the adults were relieved that they had not encountered any problems, and the teenagers were very happy with the result of their little trip: they had some information for the Animagus project, they knew that Malfoy was manipulating something and most importantly, they did not get caught.

The young wizards of the Burrow spent the majority of their last week at the Weasley home discussing either the Animagus project or Malfoy's schemes. Hermione and Ron were more interested in the Animagus aspect. The young witch had also spent her time immersed in the book retrieved by the young Ravenclaw and comparing the content with her own third year notes and those of Edward copied from the bookstore. Ron was just asking questions on the subject, which was usually worth the answers embellished with a "Ronald" sign that the girl was slowly but surely getting annoyed.

Harry and Edward often discussed Malfoy's supposed plan, but could not find what use he could have for that piece of furniture. The two boys got along well and had a pretty good deductive talent and the confrontation of their respective assumptions made them move much faster in their deductions. They even came to convince others that Malfoy was wearing the Dark Mark after a heated debate:

"Harry, what can make you think that Malfoy Junior might be a Death Eaters?"

"That's right, Harry, he's only 16. Do you think You-Know-Who would like Malfoy in his ranks at his age? Not to mention that he's a pretentious little moron..."

"The value or, in the case of Malfoy, the lack of moral values does not wait for a certain age," Edward said gloomily. "Youth makes people much more manipulable, but it does not make it any less dangerous - a student in a school goes more unnoticed and would make a perfectly acceptable spy."

"But Voldemort already thinks he has Snape as a spy in his service!" Hermione protested.

"And if you were Voldemort, would you put all your eggs in one basket?" Harry asked sarcastically, "Two spies are better than one. And Borgin was terrified: this Greyback is surely a death eater, too, but what terrorized him before that is what Malfoy showed him, his Dark Mark. The mark he was trying to conceal from Madam Malkin- why he did not dare lift his sleeve!"

"You know, the worst thing is that their arguments stand." Ron mumbled, glancing sideways at Hermione, who added:

"But still, Draco Malfoy? I imagine him badly engaged as a Death Eater: he's arrogant but lacks maturity and determination, has never yet killed, as far as I know. Why Draco and not somebody else, another Death Eater's child? "

"Maybe he didn't really have a choice," Edward murmured. "His father is a Death Eater, he's been living all his life in an environment that's true to Voldemort's teachings, and he's probably proud to become one of them. Perhaps he even thinks he can do better than Lucius and get his family back into favor... With his failure at the Ministry, he must be on the lowest rung of Voldemort's ladder."

"Let's go with you're both right," Hermione sighed as if she had just swallowed a sour lemon, "What's his plan with this cabinet? "

"Sorry, Hermione, I'm not omniscient," Edward retorted sarcastically, "but he seems convinced that it will work because of his merry look …"

"But I think we'll have to watch him at Hogwarts..." Harry whispered.

"Does that mean you're abandoning our Animagus project?" Hermione asked dryly and disappointed.

"What?!" interrupted Ginny entering the room indignantly.

"Of course not," Harry exclaimed, adding, "I even talked to Lupin about my father on the pretext of getting to know him better and took the opportunity to ask him some questions about Animagi. Dad was brilliant in Transfiguration, Sirius had had an E and Pettigrew had an E narrowly thanks to the help of the other Marauders, according to Remus, he would never have become Animagus without their help. I think we have every chance: Hermione and Edward are prodigious in all subjects, Ron and I managed to have an E in metamorphosis, Luna and Ginny are very motivated, Neville only got an A but if we all help him, he will succeed."

"I'm glad you take this seriously," Hermione sighed reassuringly.

"Yes, on the other hand, it is better that I avoid asking too much of the subject now, he is insightful and if it continues, he will eventually suspect something."

"Otherwise," Ron interrupted, "we can have an account of where we are in our project, the only answers I get are" patience Ronald "," It's not a simple divination course, Ronald, it's is much more serious! "" I can not make any mistakes at this point, Ronald! "Now that we're going back to Hogwarts, can we at least know where you are, O Genius of Magic?"

"I can," retorted Hermione, concealing a slight blush, "it was really an exciting book, and from what I understand, to begin our learning, it will be necessary to begin by determining what is the animal form of our soul, that is our Anima. "

"It's like the Patronus, no?" Ron asked slightly confused.

"Not at all. A patronus takes the form of an animal that can protect us in our subconscious, it can also change in the course of a person's the shape of Animagus. The Animagus is the form animal of our soul with the qualities and the defects of our personality, it is besides for that that it is necessary a certain maturity so that our soul is solid and ceases to change. "Sirius' dog revealed his deep loyalty, Professor McGonagall's cat represents her independence of mind and her meticulous side, the stag of your father is a symbol of nobility, the rat of Wormtail and Rita Skeeter's beetle, and so on."

"So, how do we unveil our 'anima'?" Harry asked.

"We smear our bodies with Mandragore and Belladonna ointment and then we sit naked around a fire in which plants such as the sage of the soothsayers and the poppy are burnt to enter into a trance. In this trance, we will meet our spiritual animal and we will know in what way we will transform." Ed stated in a perfectly neutral tone.

"NAKED?" asked four flushed teenagers whose hormones seemed to be raging since Edward's last revelation.

"It's the ritual that wants that..." Edward apologized, painfully hiding his amusement.

None of the teenagers dared to look at each other and finally, they jumped up, each claiming some pretext or another to get away from the others: Hermione pretended to check her homework, Ron wanted to polish his Quidditch material, Harry had to get his dirty laundry. Edward burst out laughing but still took the time to intercept Ginny who looked red like a tomato.

"Don't worry, I just wanted to ask you a question about Luna."

"In my opinion, she will not mind sitting naked around a fire, even with boys..." Ginny mumbled.

"Do you know if she had a little sister or a little brother?"

"No idea, Mum may have known, but she didn't tell me about it. Luna's mother was depressed before her death and some rumors say she committed suicide, but I know it's a lie. She would never have done it in front of Luna, she would never have done that to her!"

"Have you known Luna for a long time?"

"We had been playing together since we were six or seven, and at the time she was very imaginative and she invented all sorts of stories when we were walking in the forest, but she also knew how to be serious. She wasn't like that all the time, she changed when Mrs. Lovegood died. I heard that she spent several hours near her mother's body and it irreparably changed her."

"What do you mean?" Edward asked in a low voice.

"She didn't talk anymore, and she had violent accidental magic," Ginny told her, her eyes haunted, "Mum thought she might never be able to go to Hogwarts. In any case, for a year, she was left to the care of the Healers in the Incurable Spell Room, which made her case worse, so Mr. Lovegood came one day and took her out of St. Mungo's and raised her alone. When I saw her again, she remained largely in her imaginary world but she started talking again and her magical crises calmed down. "

"Do you know exactly what killed her mother?" Edward asked.

"Rita Skeeter's nasty articles say that she practiced black magic, the truth is that Pandora Lovegood was a Ravenclaw who was interested in everything and was very brilliant. Nobody knows what killed her."

"Luna is really an amazing person." said the young alchemist contemplating the woods from the window.

"I'm glad she had you as a friend last year, you're one of the few who takes her seriously and listens to her, but now she has lots of friends. She's no longer alone."

"She's a good girl, her words may seem strange, but her feelings and emotions are true."

"What I told you is a secret, but I know you won't take advantage of her... That's why I told you."

The night before they left, Edward stayed awake for a long time, unable to fall asleep. He remained there, pensive, thinking about both Luna and Winry: so different yet so alike.