'Not yet,' said Lucius shortly. Then he bent close to Harry's ear and hissed, 'I sometimes ask myself what I did wrong, to be cursed with a idiot child instead of the heir I should have had.'
Harry's irritation boiled over. 'Come on!' he snapped. ' Murder, torture, masses of Dark magic, what haven't you done wrong? You're just lucky you didn't get a son who had three heads. You must have the worst karma of anyone I've ever met!'
Lucius stared at him. Narcissa gave a little squeak.
'You must be mad, to speak to me in that manner,' said Lucius. 'Or perhaps you're just trying to show your mettle.' He smiled, showing his sharp even teeth.
'I admire that. I will not punish you.'
Narcissa's shoulders sagged in relief and she turned away to hide her expression.
As soon as she did, Lucius bent and whispered in Harry's ear: 'If you put one toe out of line after this, my boy, it's St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies for you. They can toss you in with the Longbottoms and you can spend the rest of your life strapped to a bed, frothing at the mouth.'
This mention of Neville's parents made Harry so angry he might well have forgotten himself and belted Lucius in the eye if the bedroom door hadn't opened at that moment, admitting two men in travelling cloaks. One of them was Angus McNair. The other was a short man in a dark green cloak, the hood pulled low over his eyes. From one sleeve of the cloak protruded a black-gloved hand; from the other, a shimmering hand made entirely of silver metal.
Wormtail.
'Sorry to barge in,' said McNair, pushing back his hood. 'Anton told us you were up here.'
'Back so soon?' said Lucius.
'Yes,' said Angus, a bit nervously. 'The journey from Cornwall took less time than expected.'
'And Sirius Black?'
Please let him have gotten away, Harry prayed silently.
'Is here,' said Wormtail shortly. The last time Harry had heard his voice, he had been screaming for Voldemort to heal his severed hand. Which Voldemort had done. He had given Wormtail a hand of metal, which now winked in the light as he raised it and pointed it towards the door, almost as if it had been a wand.
'Everriculum!' he shouted and a bolt of whitish light emerged from the palm of the metal hand. The light rose and expanded into the air until it was a net of silvery strands, rather like a spider's web. Then the filaments of the web broke apart, and something crashed through them, landing hard on the ground.
It was Sirius.
He was in his animal form, in the shape of a huge black dog. All his limbs were rigid, sticking straight out; only his eyes were moving, rolling back and forth between Wormtail and Lucius.
'Very impressive, Wormtail,' said Lucius, but his eyes were on Sirius.
'My Master has given me a hand of great power,' said Wormtail, gazing at his metal extremity with fondness. He waved it carelessly in Sirius' direction, and the black dog went skidding helplessly across the floor towards Lucius.
Narcissa gave a little scream.
'That's enough,' said Lucius sharply.
'Turn him back,' added McNair in a harsh voice.
Wormtail snapped his metal fingers. 'Sapiens,' he hissed, and the black dog gave a sudden twitch and was Sirius again; Sirius dressed in torn rags, with vicious cuts and scratches up and down his arms that had not been apparent when he was in his canine form. He still could not move, but his black eyes fixed on Lucius with hatred.
Harry heard Narcissa gasp. Then Lucius walked quickly across the floor and kicked Sirius in the ribs with one booted foot. Harry tried to rush forward, but tripped on the leg of Draco's pajamas and fell to the ground.
He had just begun to scramble to his feet when he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of Narcissa, who suddenly, silently, and to everyone's great surprise, had fainted dead away on the floor.
'We're here,' said Draco, standing up and tapping Hermione on the shoulder. She bolted upright and stared out the window. They were at a tiny, lamplit station whose wooden signpost proclaimed it to be located in the town of CHIPPING SODBURY.
This was not exactly what she had pictured. She had rather imagined that Malfoy would come from a bleak castle perched on top of a rocky crag in the middle of a barren desert where vultures were always swooping down on anyone who didn't move fast enough. Not a cute little town called Chipping Sodbury. Still, you never knew.
'Come on,' said Draco, and she followed him off the train and down onto the platform, where he turned left and walked towards the end of the platform. 'Uh, Malfoy,' she said, trailing after him with the bag bumping her leg, 'The station's this way…'
At that moment, he made another sharp left and walked right through the concrete wall at the end of the platform.
'Blast,' she said, running to the wall, 'how'd he do that?'
An arm came through the wall. It was Draco's. He yanked her forward, and with a whooshing feeling, she slid through the wall and sprawled onto the ground on the other side.
'Ow,' said Draco. Her bag had caught him a sharp blow to the head.
'Sorry,' said Hermione, standing up and looking around with interest. They were standing at the foot of an enormous wrought-iron gate whose arch bore the inscription Malfoy Park. 'I guess we're not in Chipping Sodbury anymore?'
'Certainly not,' said Draco, starting to walk, ' This is Malfoy Park, its the village at the foot of the hill where
