With an outstretched arm, Harry attempted to block his eyes from the sun's piercing rays.

"Why do you let him get to you?" he asked Ron, quickening his pace toward the apothecary. "You know he only does that to rile you up, so don't take the bait."

"It's Malfoy! Excuse me if I don't trust him alone with Hermione."

"Hermione has a good head on her shoulders. She can certainly take care of herself. You should have seen how she knocked him around this afternoon." He tried and failed to stifle a bout of laughter. "I wish you could have been there. The look on Malfoy's face was priceless!"

Ron grunted. "I hear you, but there's just something about the guy that rubs me the wrong way. I can't seem to shake the thought that he's only trying to get in good with us to improve his reputation."

They rounded the corner and eyed the entrance to Diagon Alley's only apothecary, Capacious Cauldrons. The street leading to the storefront was teeming with students, enjoying their Saturday outing from the castle.

The antique bell above the front door tinkled as they stepped inside, a most onerous smell of rotten eggs and spoiled cabbage assaulting their senses and forcing Ron to cough into his sleeve.

The owner Ingrid was indistinguishable among the rows of dried roots and bundled feathers, bright powders lining the walls in every direction and barrels of slimy liquid standing firmly on the floor in the walkway.

Harry and Ron inched around the chaotic maze, with the sole purpose of making it over to the counter where the owner now stood.

An eccentric woman in her 60s with bright blue curls tightly wound to her scalp and pince-nez glasses slipping down her slightly hooked nose paced back and forth behind the rather large display of lacewing flies.

Harry cleared his throat. "Miss Argo."

She looked up from her frantic preoccupation and beamed when she saw her two favorite Aurors manifesting in front of her.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Weasley!" Her sing-song voice was positively perturbing even on a good day as she flashed them an unnaturally wide smile, revealing more teeth than was necessary for such an occasion.

Harry brandished his broadest smile in return. "Hi, Miss Argo," he began brightly, "we're here this afternoon on official Ministry business." He discreetly flashed his Auror badge from the inside of his dress robes, more out of habit than necessity. "Do you think you'd mind if we went somewhere more private to ask you a few questions?" Harry glanced around hesitantly, gesturing to the back of the store just past a small group of Hogwarts students convening around a display of leaping toadstools.

"Of course, of course." She fidgeted to remove her apron from around her waist. "You boys follow me." She anxiously rounded the glass counter and weaved through the throngs of patrons lining the crowded shop.

Arriving in a room no bigger than a broom cupboard, haphazardly lined from floor to ceiling with shipping boxes and empty glass jars, the trio squeezed in through a narrow opening in the doorway and forged onward toward a worn wooden desk at the back. Miss Argo offered no apologies for the mayhem, leaving Harry to believe the jumbled mess was nothing out of the ordinary for her.

Pulling out a rickety chair from behind the desk, the eccentric woman moved to take a seat. She gestured flippantly to one of the adjacent walls lined with shipping boxes. "Pull up a box, fellas!"

Looking around in confusion, they both made a pained face and reluctantly grabbed a cardboard carton, struggling to get comfortable as they lowered themselves onto the unstable mass. Harry adjusted his bunching robes, mildly distracted by the obvious discomfort but determined to forge ahead.

"Miss Argo, one of our colleagues informed us that you have a customer in Scotland who recently placed a rather large order from your apothecary." He searched her face for recognition but was met with stiff apprehension. "You're not under investigation, Miss Argo. We simply need your help."

Her anxious countenance visibly softened at Harry's assurance.

"Might you be able to tell us the nature of the contents of that order?"

His honest emerald eyes searched her weathered glare as she seemed to measure the weight of his inquiry.

"Certainly, certainly," she finally replied, drumming her fingers against the hollow surface of the table. "You're referring to the chateau on Morningside, yes?"

"That's the one," Ron piped in, face reddening at the realization that he may have spoken out of turn.

"Yes, Miss Argo. That's right." Harry sat up a little taller on his box, leaning forward with interest against the shifting desk. "Do you remember what specifically was ordered when you prepared the shipment for delivery?"

His eager expression urged her on. "Of course I remember! It's not every day we get a request for such an unusual assortment of ingredients. Left me quite curious about what they'd be used for if I'm being completely honest. We only ever have gotten an eclectic order like that when it was to stock another apothecary, and even then, it was only for an emergency."

"What exactly was the unusual assortment you speak of?" Harry inquired, noticing how Ingrid's hands began to fidget restlessly as she continued to recall the prior week's events.

She took a deep breath before she began listing off ingredients from memory.

"Well, there were newt spleens, mistletoe berries, fairy wings, and Magi-Me-More." She paused, searching her mind for anything she might have missed. "Oh, yes, and Lady's Mantle! It was dreadfully difficult to find!"

Not being familiar with many of the ingredients' uses, apart from newt spleens and mistletoe berries, Harry pressed on. "Do you happen to know what any of those ingredients might be used for?"

"Well, Magi-Me-More is a tablet that when taken can restore concentration to many a witch or wizard. The students love those come examination time! But it's commonly used for some of our more elderly patients at St. Mungo's."

She shifted her outstretched hand to slide her falling pince-nez glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

"And newt spleens are quite the opposite. Those are used in potions that make the consumer temporarily older, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that!" She chuckled heartily to herself.

Ron snickered, thinking back to their third year when Fred and George attempted that particular tactic to out-smart Dumbledore's Anti-Aging Line for the Triwizard Tournament. Harry noticed his amusement and flashed him a knowing grin.

"Mistletoe berries are one of our most common ingredients sold here. Those are typically consumed to counteract certain poisons."

Harry watched Ingrid with rapt attention, impressed at her vast knowledge of everything stocked at her apothecary. His head ached just thinking about all the information swimming around in her brilliant mind.

"Let's see, what did I miss? Ah, yes, Lady's Mantle. That is a small, herbaceous plant used in many of those must-have beauty products you see witches scrambling to buy these days. You know, the ones enhancing their unappealing attributes?"

She tittered, looking back and forth between Ron and Harry who were currently wearing matching blank stares.

"Pish-posh, you two are too young to know about those. All the witches in your milieu I'm sure are youthful beauties!"

She began ticking off the ingredients on her fingers to ensure none were forgotten.

"Oh, I nearly overlooked the fairy wings! You'll find those in beauty potions, as well, but more commonly I see potioneers adding them to their Girding Potions. Not surprisingly, a lot of Quidditch players request those to increase their endurance," she added in conclusion. "And that about covers it!"

"Wow," Harry replied with a measure of bold fascination. "I don't know what to say. That was incredible. I mean, are there any herbs, or flowers, or fungi you aren't an expert on?"

Her tinkling laughter rang through the small room. "Oh yes, I'm quite sure there are many that would leave me stumped. Every now and again I come across one I've not seen before, but the occasion is so rare I hasten to even mention it."

"Well, that's good to know," Harry said, turning to lock eyes with Ron. "I'll keep that in mind should we need your assistance in the future."

"Yes, please do. Please do."

On that pleasant note of finality, Harry and Ron rose to stand. "We'll let you get back to work, Miss Argo. You've the whole of Hogwarts out there waiting for you! Thank you so much for your time."

"My pleasure. And please tell Miss Granger when you see her that her order is ready to be picked up. I so enjoy seeing her when she stops in. She's one of my best customers!" Her eyes were alight with pure joy at the mention of it.

"I'll do that," Harry called out while inching towards the doorway, Ron close on his heels. When they rounded the corner, Harry stopped suddenly and peeked back inside. "Miss Argo, do you happen to recall anything unusual about the owl that delivered the order request?"

Her brow furrowed in concentration. "Well, now that you mention it, the owl was unusually large and had rather peculiar horn-like feathers on the top of its head, but otherwise I believe it was a simple barn owl."

"Good to know. Good to know." Harry smiled weakly, giving her a preoccupied wave before retreating from the frame.

With that, they resumed their departure by swiftly weaving their way through the crowded shop and out onto Diagon Alley where suddenly their ability to breathe was restored. They both took several cleansing breaths, feeling incalculably rejuvenated by the fresh air.

"Is it just me or is that woman bloody brilliant?" Ron remarked as they made their way down the path toward the Apparition point. "Hermione is going to have a field day when she finds out all that MacNair's been after."

Harry's lips pursed in careful concentration.

"I can't be sure what all this means, but I do know it means something."

A foreboding feeling washed over him as he privately doubted Hermione would be anything close to delighted by this additional information.