The Unknown of the Order (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Muggle Hunters

Sarah nodded. "I'll go with you. We might be able to sneak into that pub in Knockturn Alley as well. Maybe we could get some information that will help us stop the attacks."

"I'll go too, then," said Diego.

"Same here," said Talbott.

"That's rather a large group to be sneaking around. Barnaby and I should be fine on our own," said Sarah.

"Not to belittle your abilities," said Talbott, "but I was an auror until recently. I'm trained for this kind of thing."

"You also have a baby that's due to come any day now," said Sarah. "You stay here and watch after Penny. I can take care of myself."

"I can take care of myself too, you know," said Penny, but she didn't ask to join them in Diagon Alley. She knew none of them would allow it.

"Well I'm still going," said Diego. At the skeptical look on Sarah's face, he added, "I'm your partner! Where you go, I go."

"Fine," Sarah relented.

Barnaby huffed. It looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against, probably due to his next request.

"The next thing I want to do," he said, "is rescue Merula."

There was a pause as everyone tried to make sense of what he'd said.

"Are you mental?" asked Diego. "She betrayed us! She's a Death Eater now."

Barnaby shook his head. "She doesn't know what she's doing. Merula wouldn't really join the Death Eaters. We can save her."

"Barbaby—" began Sarah.

"You saved me!"

"That was different. We knew where you were and we knew you were being held against your will. And still, we nearly didn't make it out alive. I saw Merula turn on us. This was her choice."

Barnaby opened his mouth to argue, but Talbott said, "Merula can handle herself. I think we should try to figure out how to put a stop to these muggle huntings first."

"Fine," said Barnaby, but his set his jaw in a defiant manner that let Sarah know this conversation wasn't over.

After a simple dinner and laying a few plans for the next day, they all went to bed. Sarah tossed and turned in her bed, unable to find sleep. Too many unpleasant thoughts drifted through her mind. She tried to think of the last time she'd had truly nothing to worry about. Probably back when she was a child, before Jacob had disappeared.

Cranky and annoyed with her twisted bed covers, she finally kicked her way free of her bed and tip-toed into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Barnaby was seated on the couch, staring at the television again.

"Barnaby, you should be in bed." She didn't have a watch, but she guessed it had to be somewhere around two in the morning.

"Couldn't sleep," he said. "I wanted to see the end of that Christmas story, but I couldn't find it. Muggles deserve more credit. This television thing is brilliant, even with the sound off."

Sarah joined him on the couch, transfixed by the flashing light of the television screen. She watched a man evidently talking to the viewers, while big red letters next to him urged them to buy a fancy set of frying pans.

Barnaby turned the television off, but the imprint of the screen remained on her eyes for a moment.

"Sarah? I still think we should try to find Merula."

Sarah sighed. "Barnaby, she chose her side."

"You don't understand. For Merula it's not a choice. It's almost never been like that for her." He paused. Sarah couldn't see his face, but she could imagine his pained look of concentration as he tried to find the words to say. "When my parents kidnapped me, I may have never told them anything, but there were times that I really wanted to. And it wasn't because of the threats or the torture, it was because my mother kept saying that as soon as I gave in, we could be a family again.