When the Bell Tolls - Dramione

9.

July 23; 11:25am

Hermione moves down the table, unfolding the large map enough to show the entire street. She steps back, frowning, and looks over at the other maps spread across the long table, and then up at Harry, Pruit, and Leacher.

"This might be a test to see if anything happens, and even if it isn't, if they find out the Ministry knew about it, it'll come back on Bells. We have to be careful."

Pruit shakes his head. "There's no way we can pull it off without a few lives being taken. We can't show up as Aurors or even wizards, and magic will have to be used in hidden ways or the Assignment can be blown. It's in the Muggle world - they'll know they have a spy."

"What about construction work on the streets leading in?" Harry asks, stepping closer to the table to get a better look at the map in front of him. "It won't block everyone out, but it's Muggle enough to probably pass them, and it'll keep most people away."

"We don't know what street it's on, and setting up construction blockades in the entire radius will be suspicious."

"Projecting a vision through a gem could work, but it would have to be heavily orchestrated to change when they do something that would change it." Pruit looks up at the clock at one end of the room. "Time isn't partial to that."

"Neither am I," Leacher says gruffly. "We can transfigure objects to look like people standing along the street, but they can't be animate. It won't protect all the Muggles, but when they start casting at the objects, most of them will be scared enough to run."

Hermione sighs silently. She had been hoping one of them had an idea that she couldn't think up to protect everyone, but they seem just as lost as her on how. She hates that it feels like the Dark is winning, but their cowardice of doing things in the Muggle world is working in their favor. If this was the wizarding world they were coming into, Hermione wouldn't have a question about what they would do.

"It will have to be stone," she says. "Light enough to fall back when they hit it with the Killing Curse, but heavy enough that the Curse doesn't blow out chunks of stone. If they use something else, a different spell, it'll be a problem."

Harry scowls at the maps, pushing the end of a pen against the outline of a building. "Hermione, do you know what these businesses are?"

"Some of them are flats. A bookshop, record shop, two cafes, four restaurants, a takeaway place, supermarket..." She passes down the map that labels each building. "Three empty buildings, or at least closed businesses. There's also a school, post office, furniture store, two jewelry shops, shoe shop, petrol station... There's the park they mentioned taking a Portkey to."

"You don't know what they're after?" Leacher asks, likely as incredulous as he gets for a man that shows little emotion.

"Bells doesn't know, I don't know." She reaches up to rub her temple. "I told you everything we know."

If Malfoy did know, they might at least find a way to stop them from getting it. They don't have a choice, though, and they'll just have to see what Malfoy finds out after. It's not her fault he hasn't become trusted by the higher circle yet.

"All right," Harry mutters, eyes flicking over the maps. "Let's figure out where they're likely to go and the path they'll take."

July 24; 4:51am

Hermione jumps at the loud bang of the bag dropping on the table, though Malfoy is staring at her too intensely for surprise to have been the point.

"What is that?" Because all she can see in her mind is a magically-altered bag with a rotting human head.

"Galleons."