Lumos

38| Floo Powder

Kreacher had completely disappeared.

He didn't return the next day, or the day after, or the day after that. In fact, it had been almost
a week, and we were still stuck in here with no word from him-or anyone, for that matter.

"D'you reckon he disappeared?" Ron asked, laying on the sofa, legs bent to give Hermione space who sat on the other end, book in hand.

"He was left as a part of Harry's inheritance. He can't just leave. Maybe Mundungus hid himself really well," Hermione shrugged without raising her eyes from the book.

Ron draped his arm over his eyes. "All we've been doing is sleeping and eating, and we're out of food. We have no leads on anything."

"Do you want me to make a run outside?" I suggested, and Hermione shook her head.

"It's not safe. I don't think you should go."

"There are spells for conjuring food," Harry piped up from another room. "I just don't want any of us to do it because . . . well . . . we'd probably die if Ron tried to create food out of nothing."

"I would be offended, but where's the lie?" Ron said gruffly.

"Well?" I turned to Hermione. "Would you like to give it a go?"

"Only Dumbledore conjured food from air. I'm not that skilled," Hermione said, closing the book and looking up at me. "Do you want to try?"

"I'm sure none of you are going to be the taste-testers if I try it," I raised my eyebrows.

"We can feed it to one of the rats in Sirius's room," Harry suggested and I snorted.

"Alright," I said, clearing my throat. "I'll try." I raised my wand. "Aquamenti." The glass in front of me filled with water.

"That's not a food spell," Ron sat up, annoyed. "That's water."

"Well, I just happened to realize we never learned a food conjuring spell in our sixth year-or before, for that matter. Maybe if we stayed one more year, I could've been able to do it!" I said, setting down my wand. "Why don't you give it a go instead of lying on that sofa all day?" Hermione was smirking. "What?" I faced her.

"I just remembered. According to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration-" we groaned, which she ignored "-There are laws of magic governing what you can conjure and what you can't. Food is one of the five exceptions: you can't create food out of nothing. However, food can be increased or transported from one place to another. All the food at Hogwarts is not created magically by Dumbledore but cooked by House Elves, then magically sent through the ceiling to the tables above-which is partially the reason why I created S.P.E.W."

"I mean, you could've mentioned that before," I scowled.

"Sorry, I forgot." Hermione snickered. "It was fun to watch you try, though."

My stomach rumbled.

"Wait a minute. Can't we accio something?" Ron sat up, excited. "Quick, Elvira. Open a window."

"I doubt it works like that . . ." Hermione trailed off, but I had to try. I jumped off the couch, running towards the window and yanked it open. What stood below us made be freeze up, blood draining from my face.

"Well, El? Did you try it?" Ron called.

"Uh, guys," I said, loud enough for them to hear, yanking the window back down. "Come take a look at this."

Realizing the seriousness from my voice, I heard as the sofa and door creaked, the three of them making their way towards me. I bent down on my knees, peering through the window. Above me stood Harry and Ron, Hermione crouching beside me.