Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The strain of their emotions, and the weight of what lay ahead, had left Harry and Ron sleeping poorly these past nights.

That morning, Evan, Harry, and Ron got up early and went downstairs.

Sirius and Lupin had not yet arrived. Mr. Weasley and Bill had just left home for work. Mrs. Weasley had gone upstairs to wake Hermione, Ginny, Elaine, and Gabrielle, while Fleur had drifted off to take a bath. Only the three of them were left at the breakfast table.

“Sirius spoke to me yesterday,” Harry said, breaking the silence. “He wants to join us on our next mission.”

“He said much the same to me, but I refused. I think the Order of the Phoenix might need him more than we do,” said Evan, picking up a slice of bread. “At least, for now, that’s how it seems. We don’t need to fight Death Eaters head-on — our only task is to get into Gringotts. And numbers won’t help us there. The three of us are enough. In fact…” He hesitated. “In fact, I think it would be best if I went alone.”

“You’re planning to sneak off on your own?” Harry asked sharply, instantly on his guard. “Don’t forget — the cup is a Horcrux. It’s my responsibility to find it.”

“Hermione and I said we’d help too,” Ron added quickly. “We all agreed on that, remember?”

“Fine,” Evan conceded. “You can come. But just the four of us — no more. Elaine, Ginny, Gabrielle — they can’t be part of this. They’re not of age yet. This isn’t some school outing; breaking into Gringotts will be dangerous enough. And that unknown elf stronghold might be worse.”

“I don’t mind the danger, and I don’t need the Order’s protection. I’m just dying for the thirty-first to come so the Trace on me will disappear and I can leave the Burrow,” said Harry with a sigh. “It’s all because of me that we need to wait here for another three days.”

“Four days,” Ron corrected him firmly. “We’ve got to stay for the wedding. They’ll kill us if we miss it.”

Obviously, “they” meant Fleur and Mrs. Weasley; and, if Evan were to be counted, Gabrielle as well.

“That’s true,” said Evan. “We’ll need to stay for the wedding. And actually, I think we should wait a bit longer.”

“Wait for what?”

“For things to become clearer. Voldemort and his Death Eaters won’t stay hidden forever. They have the upper hand now — they won’t skulk in the shadows the way they used to,” said Evan, glancing at Ron who was poking the toast on the plate with his knife and fork. “Besides … I’m a little worried. …”

“To be honest, I’m more worried about my mother. She won’t let us miss the wedding, nor will she let us go so easily,” said Ron, seeming paranoid about cutting all the bread into pieces. “You two just watch, she’ll corner us sooner or later. She won’t give up until she finds out what we are going to do. The tricks we used on Sirius and Lupin won’t work on her. She’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“Okay, what are you cutting your toast into crumbs for?”

“Just felt like it!” Ron muttered, then added after a pause, “Every time I think about Mum grilling us, I get so wound up I want to hack something to pieces.”

Ron’s prediction came true within hours.

Mrs. Weasley had no intention to confront them in front of everyone. Shortly before lunch, she detached Evan and Harry from the others by asking them to help sort out their laundry. Evan and Harry were about the same size, and she had mixed them up while washing them. Once she had them cornered in the tiny scullery off the kitchen, she started.

“I hear you lot are dropping out of Hogwarts,” she began in a light, casual tone.

“There’s some truth to that,” said Evan. “Harry, Ron, Hermione and I won’t be going back next term.

“Hmm!”

The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing out what looked like one of Mr. Weasley’s vests.

“May I ask why you are abandoning your education?” said Mrs. Weasley.

Evan exchanged a glance with Harry, then spoke cautiously, “You know, Mrs. Weasley, Hogwarts isn’t completely safe right now. If Harry and I stay there, it’ll give Voldemort an opportunity, forcing us to confront him head-on, which wouldn’t be good for us.”

“But even if you don’t go back to Hogwarts, you can stay here. The Order will provide you both with protection.”

“Well, Dumbledore left us … stuff to do … stuff we have to finish,” mumbled Harry.

“What sort of ‘stuff’?” Mrs. Weasley pressed immediately.

“I’m sorry, we can’t —”

“Well, frankly, as your elders and guardians, I think Sirius, Arthur, and I have a right to know, and I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Mason and Mr. and Mrs. Granger would agree!” said Mrs. Weasley, her brown eyes fixed on them both with determination.

As expected, she used her “concerned parent” trump card.

“Dumbledore didn’t want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley,” said Harry. “Not even Sirius knows the whole story. This is a secret only Evan and I were told. Dumbledore gave us his final instructions. Actually, Ron and Hermione don’t have to come. They can stay here.”

“I don’t see that you have to go either!” she snapped, dropping all pretense now. She flung the laundry she’d been holding into the basin with a sharp slap. “You’re not old enough, neither of you! Don’t look at me like that, Evan, you’re Ginny’s age, still a long way from coming of age. I heard from Sirius that you haven’t even dealt with the Trace on you. To keep the Ministry from tracking you, you can’t even use your own wand now. For heaven’s sake — using somebody else’s wand! How much power do you think you can muster like that? How could you possibly fight Death Eaters? It’s utter nonsense. If Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! You must have misunderstood him. Probably he was telling you something he wanted done, and you took it to mean that he wanted you — Ridiculous.”

Well, Mrs. Weasley had clearly managed to dig up quite a lot.

Evan had told the others that he’d managed to dispel the Trace on himself with magic, and that Sirius had erased his Ministry file, so he could cast spells without being caught. The fact that his exploits over the past few years hadn’t brought the Ministry down on him seemed proof enough. But in truth, other than when he was abroad, Evan had rarely dared use his own wand. He had relied instead on other people’s, and he cast as little as possible in monitored areas. That was the only way he’d managed to slip through unnoticed.

But of course, that came at a cost. It meant his real strength was held back — quite a lot.

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