Dawn Rivera

Gringotts

Our plans are made, our preparations complete; in the smallest bedroom a single, long coarse black hair and a single long, blonde hair lie curled in small glass phials on the mantelpiece.

"And you'll be using Bellatrix's actual wand," says Danny, nodding towards the walnut wand, "so I reckon you'll be pretty convincing."

Hermione looks frightened that the wand might sting or bite her as she picks it up.

"I hate this thing," she says in a low voice. "I really hate it. It feels all wrong, it does t work properly for me...it's like a bit of her."

"It'll probably help you get into character, though," says Ron. "Think what that wand's done!"

"But that's her point!" I say. "That is the wand that tortured Neville's mum and dad, and who knows how many other people? That is the wand that killed Uncle Sirius!"

I look down at the wand and am visited by a brutal urge to snap it, to slice it in half with Gryffindor's sword, which is propped against the wall beside Harry and Danny.

"I miss my wand," Hermione says miserably. "I wish Mr Ollivander could have made me another one too."

Mr Ollivander sent Luna a new wand this morning. She is out on the back lawn at the moment, testing its capabilities in the late afternoon sun. Dean, who lost his wand to the Snatchers, is watching rather gloomily.

I look down at the hawthorn wand that once belonged to Draco Malfoy. I was surprised, but pleased, to discover that it works for Harry at least as well as Hermione's did. Remembering what Ollivander told us of the secret workings of wands, I think I know what Hermione's problem is: she has not won the walnut wand's allegiance by taking personally from Bellatrix.

The door of the bedroom opens and Griphook enters. Harry reaches instinctively for the hilt of the sword and draws it close to him, but I regret his action at once: I can tell that the goblin has noticed. Seeking to gloss over the sticky moment he says, "We've just been checking last-minute stuff, Griphook. We've told Bill and Fleur we're leaving tomorrow, and we've told them not to get up to see us off."

We have been firm on this point, because Hermione and I will need to transform into Bellatrix and Narcissa before we leave, and the less that Bill and Fleur know or suspect about what we are about to do, the better. We have also explained that we will not be returning. As we lost Perkins's old tent on the night that the Snatchers caught us, Bill has lent us another one. It is now packed inside one of the beaded bags, which Hermione and I protected from the Snatchers by the simple expedient of stuffing them down our socks.

Though I will miss Bill, Fleur, Luna and Dean, not to mention the home comforts we have enjoyed over the last few weeks, I am looking forward to escaping the confinement of Shell Cottage. I am tired of trying to make sure we are not overheard, tired of being shut in the tiny, dark bedroom. Most of all, I long to be rid of Griphook. However, precisely how and when we are to part from the goblin without handing over Gryffindor's sword remains a question to which I have no answer. It has been impossible to decide how we are going to do it, because the goblin rarely leaves Harry, Danny, Ron, Hermione and I alone together for more than five minutes at a time; "He could give my mother lessons," growls Ron, as the goblin's long fingers keep appearing around the edges of doors. I can not help suspecting that Griphook is on the watch for possible skulduggery. Hermione and I disapprove so heartily of the planned double-cross that Harry and Danny have given up attempting to pick our brains on how best to do it.

Hermione and Danny are being very delicate around each other. Whilst Hermione swears she understands, and that she and Danny will get through it, that they've been through worse, she isn't completely herself, and she won't even talk to me about it. I, on the other hand, have gotten over my initial shock and find myself imagining the little girl for hours at a time. As far as I know, she doesn't have a name yet. From what I do know, however, I am under the impression that Lavender has left the baby with her parents so that she can return to Hogwarts and help protect her friends and defy the Death Eaters. I'm not angry at her for that decision; if anything, I am full of admiration for her courage. I can only imagine how much pain it causes her to leave her baby girl behind, knowing that she has to return to Hogwarts to fight for her child's future.