The silvery moonlight gushed through the open window, illuminating the newspaper that was dumped on the desk. Harry lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to recall what Kingsley's lynx patronus had said to him last night. It had arrived whilst they were eating dinner; the Dursley's were soon forgetting their food after the message had been given.
For the life of him Harry couldn't remember what that message was. Harry heaved himself off the bed and trudged to his desk where the latest Daily Prophet lay. Looking up at him from the page was the newly elected minister for magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. From the appearance in the photograph Harry thought he looked a bit like an old lion, with a mane of hair and bushy eyebrows. He grimaced as he looked at the headline "Dawn of a New Age." "A new age?" Harry thought to himself, "What is the difference between this minister and the last one." Fudge had been useless, denying that Voldemort had existed for a whole year and Fudge had done nothing until he had finally seen him with his own eyes. But Voldemort was gone: no sightings, no dark marks, no ... disappearances, as Harry though about it, there HAD been disappearances. Harry sank into his chair pondering a memory that came floating into his mind. It was a letter he had received a week ago from Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, describing how the number in the centaur herd had decreased. Bane, the leader of the herd, had claimed that the victims had simply gone to collect food and had not returned, and there had been no trace of them anywhere in the forest. At first Harry had assumed it had been the work of Voldemort, but then Harry remembered the letter he had got from Lupin, stating, very joyfully, that there was a rumour among the werewolves that Fenrir Greyback, had simply vanished. Why would Voldemort abduct one of his own followers when he could simply click his fingers and they would come running? Although it was only a matter of time until Voldemort would return. Harry grimaced and wondered how long the most feared wizard of all time would hide for. It wouldn't be forever.
A huge white blur from the corner of his eye caught Harry's attention. He leapt up out of the chair and whirled around. A look of relief spread across his face as he realised it was only Hedwig. She dropped an envelope on his bed. She nipped his finger affectionately and fluttered to her perch and began to sip her water. Harry looked at the envelope in surprise. He hadn't been expecting anything. The last time he had ordered something was at the start of the month and that had been a new set of twig clippers for his beloved Firebolt, and they had arrived last week. Harry carefully sliced open the envelope and let the pieces of parchment spill onto the bed.