That summer of 1995, everyone seemed exceptionally busy.
While Anton was quietly establishing the Navigator in Sanctuary Tower, members of the Order of the Phoenix were carefully slipping into the Americas. No one knew what they were up to. These elite wizards should have been at the Magical Research Institute in Hogwarts, figuring out how to break Voldemort's Horcrux magic.
In an alley in New York, an elderly woman carefully stepped around a group of children chasing and roughhousing along the street.
She gazed at them with a kindly smile, then leaned on her cane and carried a basket of flowers deeper into the alley.
Before long, she reached a somewhat gloomy corner, where a huge electronic billboard blocked the passageway.
Nearby residents had complained that the billboard shouldn't have been put there. Unfortunately, the unscrupulous businessmen seemed to have persuaded the city officials, and everyone had been forced to accept it.
The old woman went behind the billboard and, with trembling hands, pulled a key from her pocket. She glanced around, unlocked a door, and went inside.
As the door slowly closed, the old woman pulled off her wig and rubbed her fingers over her face. In an instant, she transformed into a handsome, middle-aged man.
A tabby cat with the outline of eyeglass frames on its face leaped out of the basket and transformed into a stern yet kindly-looking old woman.
It was Sirius and Professor McGonagall.
Several people who had been waiting in the room immediately gathered around. Kingsley raised his wand and carefully peeked outside through a gap in the curtains.
"No one followed us. We were careful," Sirius muttered, but he didn't stop his old comrade from being cautious.
He smiled at the three youngsters watching him tensely. "Harry, Hermione, Ron, you really shouldn't have