In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*Break in at the Ministry

"And this is Amelia Bones, Hannah's aunt" Harry said "Former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, now part of the department of education" And he also passed her several of her gold coins

The girls drank the Polyjuice Potion and within seconds stood before them, the doubles of Mafalda Hopkirk and Amelia Bones

Harry checked his watch. "We're running late, Mr. Magical Maintenance will be here any second." They hurried to close the door on the real women; Harry and Ron threw the Invisibility Cloak over themselves but the girls remained in view, waiting. 

Seconds later there was another pop, and a small, ferrety looking wizard appeared before them. "Oh, hello, Mafalda. Amelia" 

"Hello!" said Hermione "How are you today?" 

"Not so good, actually," replied the little wizard, who looked thoroughly downcast. 

"I'm sorry to hear you're under the weather," said Hermione, talking firmly over the little wizard and he tried to expound upon his problems "Here, have a sweet." 

"Eh? Oh, no thanks –" 

"I insist!" said Hermione aggressively, shaking the bag of pastilles in his face. Looking rather alarmed, the little wizard took one. The moment the pastille touched his tongue, the little wizard started vomiting so hard that he did not even notice as Hermione yanked a handful of hairs from the top of his head. 

"Oh dear!" Briar said, as he splattered the alley with sick. "Perhaps you'd better take the day off!" 

"No – no!" He choked and retched "I must – today – must go – " 

"But that's just silly!" said Hermione, alarmed. "You can't go to work in this state– I think you ought to go to St. Mungo's and get them to sort you out." 

The wizard had collapsed, heaving, onto all fours, still trying to crawl toward the main street. "You simply can't go to work like this!" cried Briar. 

At last he seemed to accept the truth of her words. He turned on the spot and vanished, leaving nothing behind but the bag Ron had snatched from his hand as he went and some flying chunks of vomit. 

"Urgh," said Hermione, holding up the skirt of her robe to avoid the puddles of sick. "It would have made much less mess to Stun him too." 

"Yeah," said Ron, emerging from under the cloak holding the wizard's bag, "but I still think a whole pile of unconscious bodies would have drawn more attention. Keen on his job, though, isn't he? Chuck us the hair and the potion, then." 

Within two minutes, Ron stood before them, as small and ferrety as the sick wizard, and wearing the navy blue robes that had been folded in his bag. "Weird he wasn't wearing them today, wasn't it, seeing how much he wanted to go? Anyway, I'm Reg Cattermole, according to the label in the back." 

"Now wait here," Hermione told Harry, who was still under the Invisibility Cloak, "and we'll be back with some hairs for you." He had to wait ten minutes, but finally Ron, Briar, and Hermione reappeared. "We don't know who he is," Hermione said, passing Harry several curly black hairs, "but he's gone home with a dreadful nosebleed! Here, he's pretty tall, you'll need bigger robes ..." She pulled out a set of the old robes Kreacher had laundered for them, and Harry retired to take the potion and change. 

"Blimey, that's scary," said Ron, looking up at Harry, who now towered over him. 

"Take one of Mafalda's tokens," Hermione told Harry, "and let's go, it's nearly nine." 

They stepped out of the alleyway together. Fifty yards along the crowded pavement there were spiked black railings flanking two flights of stairs, one labeled GENTLEMEN, the other LADIES.