Liam and Katy had been pacing the same street for what seemed like hours, trying to figure out where the trio had been heading. It just appeared to be a typical Muggle street in London. There was nothing seemingly odd about it at all. Then Katy had an idea.

'Hang on, Liam,' She turned to face him. 'D'you remember that book I was reading a couple of weeks ago?'

'No.'

'The one about hidden magical objects?'

'No.'

'Well, I was. And it was saying that there are enchantments you can put on things that will make them disappear… well, seem like they do anyway. It makes them sort of merge with the thing next to it, you can do it with books and boxes and things.' Katy told him. Liam stared back at her blankly.

'So?'

'So, maybe you can do that with buildings, too! There could easily be a hidden place in this street, couldn't there? It's the perfect location for something like that. It's in the middle of a busy, suburban neighbourhood in the centre of London! It's a brilliant place to hide something important, right where no one would think to look!' Katy was really getting excited with the thought that she might have sussed them out.

'Right… so how do we find it?' Liam asked her, still lost on what she was saying.

'Take a walk, Liam. See if you see anything odd going on, something that's not there, something that's there that shouldn't be there.' Katy explained, already making her way down the street. Liam shrugged and took her advice.

There didn't seem to be anything strange about the street. A park was situation in the middle of the street, quite over-grown, but nothing out of the ordinary. She thought there was a possibility, so she opened the gate and wandered into the park. It wasn't a play park kind of park, it was just to make the street look pretty, so all that was inside it was trees, bushes and grass. It ran straight through the centre of the street. A bat flew overhead. Katy whipped around after hearing its wings. No, none of the Order were animagi anymore – not since Sirius Black had died. She kept her wand in the pocket on her hoodie, just in case there was any surprises. Then she saw something.

There were small drag marks in the soil. They weren't recent, but it had to have been after the last time it rained, which was about three weeks ago. She looked up and saw a small clearing in the trees above her. She smiled to herself. These small drag marks were the exact shape that broomsticks would make, and there were very faint footprints leading to one side of the street.

'Gotcha.' Katy muttered, following the footprints and leaving the park.

'Liam!' She called. 'I think I got something!'

Liam appeared around the corner and skidded to Katy's side.

'What?' He asked her, staring around as if it would be blatantly obvious.

She pointed to the ground in the park. 'I found footprints and broomstick marks in the ground. They used this for landing without being seen. It's on this side… whatever it is.' Katy told him, pacing a small section of the street in front of Liam.

'Okay,' He said, trying to think logically. 'well, it's nothing in the park… so maybe they own one of these houses?' He said un-certainly. It all seemed too simple for them to just own one of the houses, they were wizards, why have something so openly Muggle as their headquarters?

'Yes! It's like hiding something in plain sight! Right, we have to look for something that looks magical-ish.' Katy smiled back at him. They set off in opposite directions in the street, examining all the houses. Liam noticed one Muggle family watching a chat show, another house in total darkness, one family un-packing shopping… Hang on, there was something strange about this…

Liam re-traced his steps. Number 8, 10… 14… where was 12? He checked again, just in case he'd missed it. No, there was definitely no number 12, Grimauld Place.

'Katy! Come here!' Liam called her over, still staring at the houses. Katy jogged over to him.

'What've you got?' She asked him, following his gaze and watching the houses.

'There's no 12.' Liam said slowly.

'What?'

'12. There's no number 12. It goes 8, 10, 14.' He explained.

'Nice one…' Katy muttered. 'So, how do we get 12 back?'

Liam thought about it. Katy actually had meant it as more of a rhetorical question, but Liam thought he might know the answer to this.

'Well, it'll be some sort of enchantment, right?'

'Right…'

'So, imagine,' He walked over to the entrance of the park and stood facing the spot where 12 should be. 'It has to be something you can do without being noticed, you can't exactly just get out your wand in the middle of a Muggle neighbourhood.'

'Well, no, but…'

Liam tapped his foot, trying to think of something helpful. Suddenly there was a crunching sound. They both stared at the row of houses. It was like numbers 10 and 14 were moving away from each other, the street was expanding! But it didn't look like the Muggles even noticed! And soon after it had started, it stopped and the number 12 was now visible above the door. Katy and Liam stared at it.

'Well done.' Katy said quietly to her partner.

'What do we do now?' Liam asked her. 'Should we go inside?'

'I don't see why not. They'll come back, won't they?' Katy said, cautiously approaching the house. Liam followed her to the door.

Katy put her hand to the door handle. She knew that there'd probably be something waiting for them, a charm or something, ready to spring out and surprise them in the hope of scaring them to death, most likely. Liam sensed her hesitation and gently pushed her hand away from the door.

'I'll get it, Katy.' He smiled at her and then opened the door.

The house was dark as they stepped inside, their footsteps echoing around the whole building on the cold, stone floor. The door squeaked and swung shut with a bang. Katy grabbed Liam's hand.

A voice rung out across the house; 'Severus Snape?' They both recognised this voice as Mad-eye Moody, a previous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. But it was only his voice.

'It's not Snape.' Liam called out nervously, not knowing where to direct his voice. Katy felt something in her throat, she tried to talk but all that was happening was a quiet stammer. Liam stared at her, almost scared for his life.

The dust at the other end of the long corridor seemed to be shifting… swirling even.

'L-l-liam…' Katy started.

'I got it,' He held his wand out and started to walk cautiously towards the dust. Before he had any time to react, it formed a human shape, a man… with a beard.

Katy screamed. It was Albus Dumbledore, their old headmaster – but he was dead. The flesh was decaying and his eyes were dead and cold. The figure raced towards them, it's arm outstretched. There had to be some way to stop it!

'It wasn't us! We didn't kill you!' She yelled, suddenly regaining her voice. As quickly as it had spiralled into existence, the figure dispersed into the air and silence prevailed once more. Katy and Liam looked at each other, neither of them knowing what had created nor halted the ghostly figure. Katy sighed with relief, safe in her thought that this was the last trial for them to endure.

'Are you okay?' Liam asked her, his voice barely more than a whisper.

'Yeah,' She swallowed hard. 'you?'

'Yeah.' He turned on the spot, trying to figure out what they should do next.

'I reckon we need to find a place to sleep. It's late.' Katy told him. He nodded in agreement and they made their way up the stairs. The first room they found looked like it would do. The floorboards were coming apart and one was completely missing, allowing them a view to the darkened living room below.

A scraping sound issued from the landing. Katy pulled her wand out and held it in front of her, aimed towards the door. It opened slowly… there was nothing there! Katy looked down to the floor, and saw a rather ugly house elf trudging into the room, sneering at them.

'What right do you have in the noble house of Black?' It growled, staring at them with its beady eyes.

'I…' Katy was about to reply, but Liam nudged her and shook his head. He had time to take in the room and he knew what he had to do. There was a family tree on the wall, and having attempted to read the names in this light, he ran with what he had. He put his hand into his bag and pulled something out, holding it up to the elf. It was a Slytherin house tie. The elf examined it and looked up at Liam, then nodded curtly. Liam approached the family tree, and traced one of the branches with his hand. It came to Evan Rosier, he stopped.

'My granddad.' He told the house elf. The elf stooped into a low bow.

'Of course, you must be Liam…'

'Yeah.'

'I am Kreacher. I am the house elf for the noble and most ancient house of Black. I am at your service.' He bowed once more. Liam raised an eye brow at Katy. She could tell he was enjoying this.

'And who is your friend, master Liam?' The elf stared at Katy again, as if he was trying to figure something out.

'She's pureblood, if that's what you're asking. Her name is Katy.' Liam told the elf. He nodded.

'Is there anything I can do for you, master Liam?'

'You wouldn't by any chance know how to reset those protective charms that were on the house, would you?' Liam asked him, suddenly remembering that Harry and his friends would eventually turn up.

'Of course, master Liam. Kreacher watched them set it up, the Order and the blood traitors… and the mudblood.' The elf's eyes seemed to flicker with anger.

'Yes… well, we might need you to reset them soon. You see, the blood traitors and the mudblood are coming back, and we don't want them to… feel too welcome when they arrive.' Liam explained. Katy hoped he was trying his best to say something that would keep the house elf on their side, she didn't want to think that what he was saying was coming easily to him.

'Yes, yes, certainly,' the elf agreed with a sly smile. 'Kreacher will put it back as it was… as soon as master Liam tells him to.'

'Excellent. You can rest now, Kreacher.' Liam instructed him.

'Thank you. If you should need anything, you can call Kreacher… Kreacher will come whenever you need anything.' He bowed out of the room. Katy stared back at Liam. He shrugged and grinned at her.

'What was that about? Why do we have to put the charms back?' She asked him.

'Well, for a start, they'll be expecting something, won't they? After all, they must know that there are charms protecting it. But I thought maybe we could have a bit of fun with them, after all… we did get here first.' Liam said with a cheeky grin.

'Fun?'

'Think about it. A huge dark, scary house, and we're paid to snatch them… so why not shit them up a bit? They'll come quieter if they're scared. And Scabior said we'd have to be quick-thinking, so who knows, maybe after they're all scared and helpless, we'll be those nice, helpful, saviours who'll lead them to safety…'