[Grandma Merrybones' Neverfail Bran Muffin Recipe, after decryption] -
Draco,Thank you for your message. I apologize for the delayed response, but your encryption spell took a few days to unravel.
The spell is a piece of genius. You really should think about making an application to the Magical Patents office if your inheritance doesn't pan out.
To the matter at hand, I have undertaken initial investigations into the nature of your dilemma and have shortlisted an individual whom I believe can provide a solution, at a cost, of course. Keeping the matter strictly confidential has been rather tricky, considering the legal difficulties. I have included an estimate, below, for the Expert Consultation from the individual in question. Please let me know as soon as possible if you do not find the terms agreeable.
We will meet at the Cobblestone Inn, Knockturn Alley, Saturday evening. I would advise you to take a room at the Inn, under the names of Mr and Mrs. Merrybones. I will come to fetch you at the allotted time.
Kind Regards,
E. R. Borgin.
**
Thursday evening. It was an ideal evening for a walk, Tonks decided. Her shift, which comprised of a rather dull, up and down patrol of the Hogwarts trail to Hogsmeade, had ended ten minutes prior. She spent a further ten minutes chatting to the equally bored Rufus Quartermaine, who had shown up to relieve her.
Tonks had the option of meeting Hagrid for a pint or two at the Three Broomsticks, or visiting Lupin to borrow yet another Muggle detective novel (the man' s secret passion), but she settled for the walk instead.
Hogwarts Castle may have been ancient as the hills, but there was always something new to discover every time she visited. Case in point was the multitude of Humming Hydrangea bushes that Professor Sprout had put in the previous spring. It had taken a day or two before Tonks realised that the faint humming noise in the background was not due to the minor injury she had received when she hit her head on a low banister in the Library, but was in fact the local flora.
There were other additions to the Castle: new rooms shifted from somewhere to somewhere else and the increasingly infamous 'refreshments tray' in the Prefects Bath. Other new additions were not so innocuous, unfortunately.
The team stationed at Hogwarts had had a meeting earlier in the evening to discuss the sheer lack of nothing that made up their daily reports. Moody had received intelligence which suggested that the Dark Lord' s most recent Recruiter was operating in the area, but since the sighting of the Dark Mark over Hogsmeade the previous Wednesday, there hadn't been so much as a whiff of evil-doing.
The recent, highly entertaining Quidditch match between the Hogwarts 'School Team' and the Aurors had been a welcomed breather from the tension that hung in the air like damp rot.
And yet, the sense that something wasn't quite right, remained. Quartermaine swore that he had a pinch or two of Seer' s blood and was adamant that he could feel impending nastiness. Professor Trelawney was inclined to agree, but this was neither new nor especially reliable.
Everyone was feeling it - a nervousness which bordered on dread. End of year at Hogwarts had not exactly been quiet or uneventful over the past six years and so why should this particular year be any different?
Because we're ready, this time, that's why, Tonks thought.
Albus Dumbledore would sooner cut off his own arm, than allow one of his wards to succumb to the Dark Lord's seductively offered traps. And they were traps, no two ways about it. There were always a handful of students on the 'To Watch' list. Students who seemed markedly more displaced than others; disillusioned, disempowered and very, very angry with the world.
There were currently four from Slytherin, three from Ravenclaw and one from Gryffindor. Professor Sprout had been extremely relieved that none of her brood had made the list that year. It wasn't so much to do with a sense of pride at her proven skills as a mentor, but rather the fact that Hufflepuffs made for terrifyingly, single-minded (make that bloody-minded, Tonks mentally corrected), Voldemort supporters. It came down to their innate sense of unquestionable loyalty once their oath was given. One less Hufflepuff Death Eater was always a blessing.
Feeling agitated at her increasingly depressing thoughts, Tonks attempted to create a breeze by picking up her pace. Her shoes made