After days of waiting, Hermione finally received the news from Harry. Before anyone would notice her disappearance, she swiftly apparated to The Leaky Cauldron. As she walked through the crowd of people, she spotted Harry, waiting for her.
"You've known their whereabouts?" asked Hermione.
"I have looked through the clues, and finally I got the piece of information from a random Muggle at the street."
"What did the Muggle say?"
"The Masons are now in a house in Salisbury. I have examined the exterior, they seem to be living well."
"Harry, please don't tell me we are going to use our wands to get back the thing."
Before she could get the answer, Harry had quickly pulled her hand and apparated, landing in front of an iron gate.
"Harry, promise me, don't use our wands unless we have to," said Hermione. "Though we can perform the Memory Charm on them, we cannot risk the exposure of our world. Moreover, I am in the Wizengamot."
"Okay, I am sure we can," said Harry.
They rang the bell and an old man came to the gates, examining the strangers.
"What do you want?" asked the man with his croaky voice.
"We would like to see Mr. and Mrs. Mason," said Hermione, trying to act normal.
The man raised his eyebrow, not trusting what she said.
"You must have your purpose."
"We…I am once under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I just want to ask things about myself."
The old man seemed to understand what Hermione was trying to say, he opened the gates and led them to the house.
"Stay in the living room, I will call Mr. and Mrs. Mason, though I am not sure if they are busy…"
The old man went upstairs and Hermione examined the living room. Harry was right, they had lived well, and it did not seem possible that they could earn that much from running an orphanage, especially when she had paid a visit to the orphanage. The orphanage was nothing but a place that could barely afford to feed the orphans, judging by its interior and the conversation between them and middle-aged woman.
"Where would they put the thing?" whispered Harry while looking around, looking for a good hiding spot.
"We don't even know what it can be, how would we know where it is?"
"We can use Legilimency, after all, they are just Muggles."
"I wish there is a better way," said Hermione, frowning. "Just because we have our wands does not mean we can do them in such a way. I feel like cheating."
There were steps at the stairs and Hermione stared at the old couple coming towards them. Mr. Mason was a man with a large round belly that reminded her of a pear. The greasy man's saggy cheeks and round head was almost the appearance of a petty bulldog. Mrs. Mason was a woman with frizzy dirty blonde hair that it looked almost like wool. Her sunken eye sockets and blood red lips made Hermione shuddered. If she had not known, she would be surprised to know that they were once owners of an orphanage, they looked more like drunken proprietors of a cheating inn.
"May I ask for your names?" asked Mr. Mason.
"Is my name really that important?" said Hermione coldly, though she knew she should have been more polite. "Or I should say you two are my benefactors?"
"Needless to say, you are one of the girls from our little dingy orphanage," scoffed Mrs. Mason, with her breath of wine.
"Well described," said Hermione. "And surely this house is not just derived from the orphanage. Am I correct?"
The smile on Mrs. Mason disappeared.
"I…I don't quite understand what you are talking about," said Mrs. Mason, frowning.
"You know perfectly well what we are talking about," said Harry. "You cannot deny the fact that you have stolen something from her."
Mr. Mason's lips twitched.
"We have never stolen anything from anyone, young man," said Mr. Mason quietly. "Please take back your accusation—"
"That's a lie. You have taken her sapphire bracelet and sell it, earning you this house. There's the golden locket that you cannot even open it."
Mrs. Mason jumped a little and she grew a little irritated.
"Young man, I really don't know what you are up to and what you are thinking," said Mrs. Mason and she made the two stand up and walk towards the door. "Just leave our little house—"
"Your house is not little—"
"Just leave our humble dwelling—"
The next moment, they were pushed outside and the Masons quickly locked the gates. Harry sighed and stared at the gates, said,
"So what are we going to do then, when you don't want to use magic?"
"I thought they could be sensible," said Hermione.
"Sensible…" scoffed Harry.
"Come on, take out your wand."
"What?"
"Take out your wand," said Hermione. "It's getting dark now, no one is going to see us getting back our things."
"I thought you just said you no magic!"
"I never thought they could be that. They force me into that."
"So we're going to unlock the gates?"
"No. We're going to transform."
"Transform?"
"Surely you are an Animagus?"
"Are you sure we are going to do this?"
"There's no choice!"
"But mine's a stag, there's no chance I can ever get in!"
"You try to apparate into the house without being noticed. Or you try to distract the Masons and the gardener."
Hermione began to shrink and transformed into a brown otter. She yelped and Harry smiled, then said,
"I really want to keep you as pet if you are simply just an otter, Hermione."
Hermione squeezed through the iron gates and stumbled to the windows. With her otter teeth, she managed to unlock the window and fell onto the sofa. Once her feet were on the floor, she changed back into a human.
"The locket…" whispered Hermione and she lit her wand, searching for every cabinet.
As her fingers tried to pull out the largest drawer, she could feel something inside calling her.
"Alohomora," whispered Hermione and the drawer lock bulged.
Quickly, she opened the drawer and found a gold locket. She tried to open it but it seemed to be sealed with magic. Just when she wore the locket, there was a loud noise at the back yard and Hermione gasped.
"Who's there?" yelled a voice upstairs.
Without hesitation, Hermione apparated into the back yard and found Harry beside two dogs.
"What are you doing?" asked Hermione.
"I didn't expect they have dogs in here."
There were heavy steps coming from the house and Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, apparated to Harry's house.
"Get the locket?" asked Harry.
Hermione showed him the gold locket on her neck.
"It won't open, but I am sure I will figure out it some day."
"And you need to go now, before anyone—"
There was a knock at the door.
"Harry, are you in?" asked a voice. "It's me, Caroline Purvis, from Portkey Office."
"Portkey Office?" whispered Hermione.
"Just go, don't let anyone know about what happen between us."
Hermione nodded and she apparated back to the Malfoy Manor, clutching the locket. But since now she had not figured out the way of opening it and she did not want the Malfoys to know anything of this, she placed it into the drawer and went for dinner, trying to act as normal as possible.