Draco Malfoy and The Half-Blood Prince (BOOK 6 of 7)

Chapter 2-Attacking and Tasking

Three masked Death Eaters flew through Muggle London on the 24th of June. They went right for the Leaky Cauldron after casting the Dark Mark over the city. Instead of tapping the bricks to enter Diagon Alley, they just smashed through to the other side.

First, they made for Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. One Death Eater zoomed through all the seating areas, knocking over tables and chairs that hadn't already been knocked over by screaming, fleeing customers. Another went straight for the back and pushed over all the storage shelves. Finally, with an Avada Kedavra aimed at the shop owner, the Death Eaters left.

Next, they went to Ollivander's, surprising the old man who owned it. They threatened him with death, among horrible things much worse, so Ollivander went with them quietly. Fenrir Greyback conjured a bag and slipped it over the wandmaker's head. They and the other Death Eaters Apparated to Malfoy Manor's gate.

After depositing the victim at the feet of Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eaters Apparated to Muggle London again—this time, heading for the Millennium Bridge. They spiraled around the long structure until it collapsed, taking with it all the Muggles who hadn't been able to get to safety on time. Once the Death Eaters had succeeded, the proceeded to do the same to the Brockdale Bridge and the Tower Bridge. Again, they left few to no survivors. It was a good day to be a Death Eater.

But not for Draco Malfoy. He was sitting in his room, still unable to believe that he had tortured Sirius. Fortunately, the Dark Lord had stopped Draco after a few seconds with a "Congratulations on your lack of failure." A few days later, here was Draco, wasting his time while the werewolf and his pals ransacked Muggle London.

He felt so useless. There was nothing he could do to slow down his new "master" yet. In fact, Voldemort would soon inform Draco what his end of the year task was. So Draco sat, waiting.

"You get in here, you poor excuse for a human!"

That was probably Bellatrix, with Ollivander in tow. She must've been angry that she couldn't go on Greyback's destruction spree.

Draco walked down the stairs with extreme caution. He entered the foyer to find his aunt "escorting" a man with a bag over his head.

"Take him to the dungeons and lock him up," Bellatrix ordered Draco.

No, I won't lock him up. I'll just leave him there, Draco thought sarcastically. The Slytherin sixth year grabbed the man by his arm and pulled him along harshly until they were out of his aunt's sight. He took the bag off Ollivander and apologized.

"I wish I could release you," Draco admitted, surprising the man for the second time that day. "But Voldemort will kill me and my family. Besides, he won't kill you. He has questions for you about his wand."

"Of course," Ollivander said. "I should have known you were different, Mister Malfoy. Combination acacia, elder, and yew, was it? Thirteen inches, reasonably supple, with a tail feather from Fawkes. He's given out three tail feathers in his long life, and one went to your wand. It is quite peculiar that both Harry Potter and You-Know-Who have wands with phoenix feathers that came from Fawkes."

Potter shared tail feathers with him? Now he felt a lot less special about his wand. He didn't tell Ollivander, who no doubt had yet to know, that his wand was Merlin's wand. He couldn't risk Voldemort finding out.

"You can't tell Voldemort about my wand," Draco said. "Don't even think about it or he can see right through your mind."

Ollivander nodded as Draco locked the door to his cell. He hoped that the old man was mentally stronger than he looked. Draco turned to find Sirius snoring as he leaned against the cell wall. It seemed that he was spending a lot of his life in jail. Draco would have to break him out later in the summer, but not until he had everything planned to the mark. He left the two prisoners and went back to the foyer. He walked into the drawing room, expecting his mother to be there.