Order Only: An unexpected visitor

[alt_arthur]

I just had an unexpected visitor drop by. My goodness, this is a first. I looked up from my reports to discover Lucius Malfoy looming over my desk.

I was so startled I almost upset my tea.

After a confused moment, I invited him to sit and excavated a few piles of parchment from a nearby chair. He shook his head and stayed standing, his lip curling a little as he glanced around. He only had a moment, he said, but he had come to see me on the matter of the Prophet article.

That made me flush rather red. I fumbled for a response, something to the effect that I'm sure I didn't have to tell him that the article contained gross inaccuracies. He nodded, and then, to my astonishment, said that he simply wished to deliver a small token of appreciation to 'your youngest son' for the service he rendered to Miss Parkinson. 'If he's likely to be at the centre of catastrophe,' he said, 'you might want to ensure he can at least properly defend himself - and those around him.' He gave me a wintery smile and then placed a small bag on my desk with a clink, and he left before I could think of a response.

I opened up the bag and discovered it held a tidy pile of gold, along with a new wand permit.

...

I just finished writing the entry above, but was interrupted by an emergency call. Barty Crouch, Jr. said something in his post about unrest in Ashfield, Dacorum and Wyre. Some the barracks in Dacorum have been set on fire, and the whereabouts of several administrators at Ashfield is unknown. It is feared they may have been taken hostage. The standard security apparatus seems to be overrun, and MLE enforcers are being called out as reinforcements.

Comments

[alt_bill]

Lucius Malfoy? Lucius Bloody Malfoy wants to buy Ron a wand?!

[alt_alice]

Wyre? Are you sure?

It's the second Wednesday of the month, isn't it?

Evelyn and Augusta go to Wyre the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month to serve soup. At least they usually go.

Oh. Oh dear.

And if we went to help, we'd run the risk of getting caught without proper papers.

I'll send an owl to check and see if they are all right, but oh, dear. That's not good at all.