Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Evan cleaned up the scene, cast the Memory Charm on the three remaining Death Eaters one by one, and tied them up securely.

After making sure nothing had been overlooked, he Disapparated back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

Over half an hour later, Evan returned to the small room at the Leaky Cauldron with Harry, Hermione, and Elaine.

By then, he had already reverted to his own appearance.

“Oh my God, Evan, four of them!” Hermione covered her mouth in disbelief, staring at the four bound Death Eaters lying on the floor. “That big brute is Thorfinn Rowle. I’ve seen him on wanted posters before. Those two are the Lestrange brothers. But… who’s this one? He looks badly hurt. What did you do to him?”

“That’s Antonin Dolohov, a notorious Death Eater. You didn’t recognize him because his face was just smashed by a desk. Poor fellow — I didn’t mean to hit his face. I wasn’t expecting it at the time. The only consolation is that he won’t be waking up anytime soon, so he won’t feel much pain,” said Evan.

“I can’t believe it, Evan, you’ve been out for less than an hour.”

“I know, Harry, I can hardly believe I was so lucky. I ran into the Lestrange brothers almost as soon as I went out. They’re the key figures — posing as them will save us a lot of trouble,” Evan replied. “If you’re planning to compliment my good luck, I’m ready to hear it. But we’d better hurry; before other Death Eaters realize they’re missing, we need to get into Gringotts. Come on — Harry, you and I will take the forms of the Lestrange brothers. Hermione, Elaine, you two will take on Dolohov and Rowle.”

“Won’t it look weird if Dolohov and Rowle tag along to the Lestrange family vault?” Hermione asked as she plucked a few hairs from Dolohov’s head.

“It might … those goblins aren’t stupid,” Evan admitted after a moment’s thought. “How about this? You two should follow right beside Harry and me under the Invisibility Cloak.”

“Why don’t we just break in?!” Elaine frowned. “Evan, you said you planned to break in.”

“Yeah, I did think about that, but that’s undoubtedly the worst plan. The Lestrange family vault is one of the oldest, deep in the deepest reaches of Gringotts. It’s far more dangerous than we can imagine,” said Evan. “Besides the ancient magic lying in wait, the most troublesome problem is that we don’t know the way to get there. So I also thought about bribing a goblin, but that’s undoubtedly difficult. Fortunately, we have plenty of Polyjuice Potion.”

He took the hair of Rodolphus Lestrange from Hermione and tossed it into the muddy, thick potion.

Instantly, the potion turned black, as viscous as tar.

Harry’s potion changed in much the same way after he added Rabastan’s hair, only it was even more greasy-looking.

Evan raised his bottle high toward Harry, then tilted his head back and swallowed the potion in one gulp.

His body began to melt and shift again, and in moments he had taken on the form of Rodolphus Lestrange.

“What a useful potion,” Evan remarked admiringly, glancing at Harry, who now looked exactly like Rabastan.

“Doesn’t feel so good. Not my type,” said Harry, still with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Not mine either,” said Evan. “But the transformation worked. Even if Bellatrix were right here, she wouldn’t recognize us. I hope she won’t ask me to kiss her. All right, Hermione, Elaine, get under the Invisibility Cloak. Let me see if there’s any part showing… good, no problem. Let’s go!”

Evan and Harry stepped out of the room, with Hermione and Elaine following right behind them beneath the Cloak.

The bar downstairs was empty. Tom was still behind the counter, slowly polishing glasses, a look of worry on his face.

Seeing Evan and Harry coming down the stairs, he hurriedly and respectfully said, “Lord Lestrange!”

“No one is allowed to enter that room upstairs without my permission,” said Evan in Rodolphus’s voice.

With that, he and Harry walked around the counter and into the tiny backyard behind it.

“Things don’t look too good, do they?” Hermione whispered. “Do you think the other wizards already know what’s going on?”

“At least in Diagon Alley they do. And even if they don’t, the sudden appearance of Dark wizards, Dark magic shops, and wanted posters for Harry, Sirius, and me ought to tell them something’s amiss. Many non-pure-blood wizards have fled. I heard the new Ministry is forming hunt squads to go after them,” said Evan. He drew out his wand and tapped a brick in the nondescript wall in front of them.

At once the bricks began to whirl and spin: A hole appeared in the middle of them, which grew wider and wider, finally forming an archway onto the narrow cobbled street that was Diagon Alley.

The moment Evan and Harry stepped through, there came a sharp, startled cry, quickly smothered as if someone had clapped a hand over the speaker’s mouth.

Faces peered at them from behind the windows on either side of the street, but vanished at once.

Farther off, a few wizards caught sight of them and scattered like frightened birds, drawing hoods over their faces and fleeing as fast as they could.

“They’re scared!” Harry exclaimed.

“Who wouldn’t be afraid of Death Eaters?” Hermione replied. “Don’t forget who you’re supposed to be, Harry. You should act a little more arrogant and conceited.”

“I know,” said Harry uncomfortably, still not entirely at ease with the role of a high-ranking Death Eater.

There was no doubt about it: entering Diagon Alley like this drew far too much attention!

Only yesterday the Death Eaters had been wanted criminals by the Ministry of Magic, And now they were parading freely in the Wizarding world’s busiest street, this unusual appearance caused quite a stir. People kept screaming when they saw Evan and Harry, then bolting as fast as they could.

None of them fled far, though; they hid in doorways or behind shutters, watching nervously, trembling with fear.

“These guys are so annoying. What would a real Death Eater do in a situation like this?” Elaine asked.

“Probably just smash something to cause a commotion, or kill one of them. The rest would scatter in no time,” Evan speculated.

Fortunately, although there were many wizards lurking in the shadows to watch, no other Death Eaters were encountered.

It was only the second day since Voldemort had seized control of the Ministry, and clearly the Death Eaters had more pressing business than loitering about in Diagon Alley. They didn’t seem to imagine that Evan, Harry, Hermione, and Elaine would dare show themselves here in broad daylight.

Walking along the crooked, cobbled street, the snowy-white Gringotts gradually came into view before them.