~ CHAPTER THREE ~
"So, let me get this straight," Ginny said.
She was driving them to the restaurant in downtown London, with Harry in the front passenger seat and Malfoy sitting in the back. It had been difficult to convince her to let Malfoy come along, since the whole reason she had opted to drive was so that she and Harry could spend more time together. However, now that Harry had explained the whole situation, her anger had subsided, leaving her with a myriad of questions.
Ginny shot Harry a sceptical look. "A bunch of wannabe Death Eaters are on the search for the Deathly Hallows and Kingsley overreacted to the danger, so now Malfoy is your Ministry-assigned bodyguard?"
"Pretty much," Harry said, at the same time that Malfoy said, "Not quite."
"They aren't just a bunch of wannabes," Malfoy said, sounding annoyed. "They may be young, but they should be taken seriously. They are extremely well-trained in the Dark Arts, and they have the fugitive Death Eaters on their side. Plus, they're appealing to pure-blood families who weren't Death Eaters during the war but are unsatisfied now that the Dark Lord is gone. They are a serious threat, and Kingsley is right to be worried."
"Worried enough to assign Harry a bodyguard, two Aurors, and house arrest, though?" Ginny said sceptically, echoing Harry's earlier sentiments. "That seems like overkill. It's not like Harry can't take care of himself."
"Exactly," Harry said, shooting Ginny a grateful look.
"Look, I'm just the messenger," Malfoy said irritably. "Haven't you ever heard of not hexing the messenger?"
After a long pause, Ginny began again.
"What about their leader? They have to have one, don't they?" she said. "After all, only one person can own the Deathly Hallows and be the Master of Death at a time."
Malfoy nodded. "Oh, they do. He's quite the piece of work. Wants everyone to call him 'the Lord of Death' or 'His Dark Majesty' or some such nonsense."
"And here I thought Voldemort's nicknames were bad," Harry joked.
Ginny snorted.
"How old is he?" Harry asked Malfoy.
"Twenty-one. He was in the year below us at Hogwarts."
Ginny nearly crashed into the car in front of them. "What?! That means he was in my year! What house was he in? What's his name?"
"Albert Thompson. He was in Hufflepuff," Malfoy said.
"Hufflepuff?" Ginny and Harry exclaimed in unison.
"Yes," Malfoy said testily. "Not all Dark wizards come from Slytherin, you know."
Awkward silence followed.
"Sorry," said Ginny. "I shouldn't have assumed."
"The many Dark wizards from Slytherin are the result of an unlucky combination of pure-blood ideals, unhealthy ambition, and cunning," Malfoy said irritably. "Ambition and cunning on their own are not any more inherently evil than bravery, loyalty, or the pursuit of knowledge."
"I suppose that's true," Ginny said slowly. "I guess I just thought that Hufflepuffs are normally...well, nice."
"Loyalty and hard work are the key traits of a Hufflepuff," Malfoy pointed out. "Nowhere is there a requirement to be nice."
"How could those traits lead to the Dark Arts, though?" Harry asked.
"Obsessive loyalty to a cause or ideal?" Malfoy said drily. "Working hard towards a goal even in the face of adversity? I'd say those fit pretty well with 'His Dark Majesty the Lord of Death' and his plan to steal the Deathly Hallows."
"What about Ravenclaw, then?" Ginny asked curiously.
"The thirst to pursue knowledge about Dark Magic and the Dark Arts," Malfoy said promptly.
"And Gryffindor?" Ginny's eyes blazed with an unspoken challenge.
"The reckless bravery to follow your passion, regardless of social taboos or how it might affect other people," Malfoy said without hesitation. "My family and I may have been cowards, but not all Death Eaters are or were. I'd reckon my aunt Bellatrix was brave. She was so reckless and confident that I doubt she feared death near the end."
"The absence of fear is not bravery," Harry said. "Acting regardless of your fears is."
"Trust me, Potter, there are all kinds of Dark wizards," Malfoy said with finality. "Brave ones, loyal ones, brainy ones, and ambitious ones. They aren't just Slytherins."
"Point taken," said Ginny.
She shot Harry a warning look and he hastily agreed. There was a pause in conversation as she switched lanes and swore at some cyclists who were weaving haphazardly through traffic. Once she could draw some of her attention from the road, she spoke again.
"Okay, so let's assume this Dark Lord wannabe and his followers are a real threat. How do they know to target Harry? How would they know where he hid the Elder Wand? It's not like he announced to the world that he was the owner of the Deathly Hallows."
"It's not like it was a well-kept secret, either," Malfoy pointed out. "Anyone with enough determination to search for the Hallows would find out where they are eventually. We don't know how long they've been planning this."
Ginny drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "It still feels like an empty threat to me, but I trust Kingsley's judgement. Dad said he was a Godsend to the Order during the war." Suddenly, she sat up straighter, her eyes flicking to the rearview mirror to look at Malfoy. "Wait, I have another question! Harry said you had to fight some Neo-Death Eaters for the Elder Wand, right? So how come this Dark Lord wannabe wasn't stealing the wand himself? If one of his followers stole it, wouldn't the Elder Wand belong to them instead of their leader? That doesn't seem logical."
Malfoy frowned. "I'm not sure," he said slowly. "It was dark, and they were wearing masks and hooded robes. I could've been duelling with the leader and not have known it."
Harry took off his glasses and messaged his forehead. His head was beginning to ache again. "The Elder Wand's loyalties are complicated," he said to Ginny, putting his glasses back on. "Sometimes it switches loyalties because its owner is murdered, but other times it's because it was stolen or because its owner was disarmed in a duel. Basically, it switches allegiances when it detects that its old owner is not as powerful as its new owner."
"So how come it didn't become Malfoy's wand when he took it from Dumbledore's grave?" Ginny asked, her forehead wrinkling in confusion as she glanced in the rearview mirror again.
"I'm not exactly sure," Malfoy said from the back seat. "Granger's theory was that it wouldn't switch owners because I was taking it with intent of giving it back to Potter, not with the intent of keeping it as my own."
"So hypothetically, this new Dark wizard's followers could steal it with the intention of giving it to him, and it would become his?" Ginny shook her head as she changed lanes. "That seems so convoluted."
"It is," the men agreed.
They lapsed into silence and stayed quiet the rest of the way, the occupants of the car lost in thought.