Hermione Investigates

Chapter 5

"Now listen to me, you two," said George. His demeanor was very different from his usual sardonic pose, and I realized that he meant the following advice very seriously. "I don't know the best strategy for dealing with Mundungus, but you should NOT try to go after him yourselves. Dung himself is a coward, but he may be allied with powerful people who could do terrible things to you."

It was frustrating. If Mundungus WAS allied to Voldemort, we could kill two birds with one stone – get Ginny's wand back, and gather proof that Voldemort really was alive and dangerous. But for that very reason, we had to refrain from trying to track him down.

"Look on the bright side, Ginny," continued her brother. "Even if you HAD the wand back, you couldn't use it, because of the restrictions on under-aged magic."

He did NOT ask, I noticed, why she bothered taking her wand with her on her visit to me in the first place, instead of simply leaving it at the Barrow. George, too, probably shared the wizards' instinctive reluctance to go around without a wand.

"I'm going to need a wand when I go back to Hogwarts," the girl pointed out.

"If you don't get it back by then, you can buy a new one."

Ginny looked upset at the suggestion, and wasn't just pride this time. Wands were expensive; otherwise, people would be buying spares all the time. Buying 9 wands, for the 2 parents and 7 children, and probably been a severe drain on the Weasley's funds, plus they eventually had to buy a replacement for Ron after his second year. George noticed and tried another tack. "Maybe other people can offer advice; is there anybody that you don't mind hearing about it?"

"All right. Ron and the other brothers, but not Percy. Please don't tell Mum and Dad yet."

"OK. In the meantime, just enjoy exploring Muggledom, all right?"

Brother and sister shared a pecked kiss, and Ginny and I proceeded back to my bedroom window. I climbed in first, being more familiar with manoeuvring through the dark outside.

"So!" said a familiar but angry voice. "Come back from your date, Minnie?"

"Ulp!" I uttered. "Hullo, Mum."

She was standing by my wardrobe, glaring at me. "I know I can't keep track of what you're doing at school, Minnie. But I think that when you're back under our roof, you could at least tell me when you're going out with a boy."

"But I wasn't—"

"Don't tell me that. I saw you kiss the boy, outside on the pavement."

What she saw was Ginny kissing her brother, while dressed in jeans that I had loaned her. Darkness and distance had added to the confusion, and Mum had mistaken Ginny for me.

Meanwhile Ginny, unable to see in from outside, was innocently climbing in my window herself. She spotted my mother and muttered, "Oh, um, hullo, Mrs. Granger."

"Mum's mad at us for secretly going out with boys," I explained hastily.

"But we weren't—"

"It's all right, Ginny, let's not deny it," I said hastily. The notion that I was sneaking out on a forbidden date was of course completely wrong, but telling the truth – that we were breaking into a business's security office – would be worse. Mum didn't know the sort of things I got involved in at Hogwarts.

"Tomorrow, Minnie, you're to stay home doing chores. Ginny, I'm sorry to put a damper on your visit, but –"

"Oh, I've been a very naughty girl," she said, overdoing it a bit. "I'll help Min – I mean Hermione – with the work."

Later that night, after we had bathed and were getting ready for bed, I asked "I AM sorry that I involved you in my fib, Hermione. What if my Mum told your Mum that you were sneaking around with a boy?"

"If it comes up," Ginny said, "I'll just tell her it was Harry. She loves Harry."

"That would work?"

"They don't talk about it much, but I get the impression that when they were at Hogwarts, Mum and Dad would sometimes sneak away and – I'm not sure exactly what they're supposed to have done. Probably not THAT. But I don't think she'd be shocked about me being with Harry."

"All right then."

Before drifting off to sleep, Ginny asked impishly: "So your pet name is Minnie?"

"Oh, shut up," I said.

The next day Mum gave us a list of chores to do. It was boring work, and intended to be, but it was fun watching Ginny's reaction to Muggle-style chores. Her idea of housework was watching Mrs. Weasley wave her wand to get things done and delegating relatively minor tasks to the kids. When we turned on the Hoover to vacuum the floors, she was shocked by "how noisy cleaning up was".

After lunch we went outside to mow the front lawn. It was hot work and even more boring, but things got interesting when Ginny slipped up to me and whispered: "I think I see him. Mun-doodoo."

"Where?"

"Behind that bush across the street, watching us. We better pretend not to notice."

I was subtle about it, but while turning the lawn more at the end of a row, I took a look and saw that Ginny was right. He was certainly clumsy about it. Maybe because he underestimated two underage girls? That thought alone made me want to do something about it.

"I'm going to go inside and look for some shears," I said loudly. "That hedge there needs cutting."

"Good idea," replied Ginny, winking to show that she knew I had a plan in mind.

I slouched into the house, looking tired, then burst into activity. Went into my room and plucked my own wand out of the drawer – the Ministry wouldn't create a fuss about underage magic if I was actually confronting a criminal. I slipped it into my blouse, then donned a long dress so he wouldn't recognize the jeans that I had been working in. Then out the back door, and across several back yards. Most of the neighbors would be at work right now and wouldn't complain. Some kids, being looked after by a nanny, spotted me, but I told them I was committing a prank and so they thought I was all right.

When I was far enough to the side that I didn't think he would spot me, I crossed the street, and repeated the path through back yards on the other side. In the process, I figured out what Mr. Dung was probably up to.

A wizard criminal would have problems preying on other wizards. They would know protective spells, even curses, and at worst, they could call in Aurors from the Ministry to arrest him.

On the other hand, there would be little point in robbing Muggles. Sadistic bullying, such as last year's drunks at the World Quidditch Match, yes, but not robbery, because there was little Muggles had that would tempt wizards. There was little point in stealing pounds – Wizards had their own monetary system, and trying to exchange the pounds for galleons would attract too much attention. Steal a telly? A computer? Wizards didn't use them.

But what about a magical but underage girl living in the Muggle world? The Muggles would have little defense against a wizard-thief. Any lock would give way before an Alohamora spell. No Shield charms or Sneakoscopes to warn of his approach. And the girl herself would be forbidden by Ministry laws to use defensive magic, even if she knew the spells. A perfect target. So Mundungus had stolen Ginny's wand, and now he was spying on our house looking for something else to steal.

By this point I was opposite my own house, and sneaking up behind the thief. This was the most delicate part. Not that I thought Mundungus would turn violent; George had said that he was a coward. But he might Apparate away, and I would have no way of following him. I had to catch him before he noticed my approach.

Regarding that, Ginny had apparently had a startling idea of her own, something she probably wouldn't have had the nerve to do among wizards. She had taken off her blouse and draped it on the bushes, and was working the yard in her bra, showing considerable cleavage. Probably she had pretended that she had gotten overheated. Definitely she was attracting Mr. Dung's attention.

I slipped out my wand, and charged forward the last couple of yards.

"Got you!"

TO BE CONTINUED.