In late July, the weather was clear and the sun shone brightly.
In the Hampstead garden on the outskirts of the city, the canopy cast patches of shadow across the ground.
Crookshanks lay lazily on a sun-warmed stone, his gaze drawn to the ever-shifting patterns of light and shade. Now and then, he lowered his head to inspect the shadows on the ground; now and then, he looked up at the slowly drifting clouds, as though wondering whether the shifting shapes below were the clouds' shadows.
A recliner sat beneath the shade, with a figure half-reclining on it.
An unimportant newspaper covered his face, while an old-fashioned radio beside him buzzed away.
Wizarding Radio News Broadcast:
"Welcome to today's news briefing. I'm your host, Glenda Chittock. Wizarding governments around the world have begun purchasing food from Muggle Governments and storing seeds. The magical school alliance formed by Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang has also begun collecting and preserving Muggle books. I believe our listeners are already aware that these actions all stem from the Magical Civilization Migration Plan...
"What exactly is the Magical Civilization Migration Plan? What is the connection between the underlying principles of the New Spatial Displacement Device and Dementors? And what is the true relationship between Loren Morgan, the Legendary Wizard who proposed the plan, and Nicolas Flamel? Glenda will answer each of these questions for you..."
The opening was packed with gimmicks, but the actual content was still the same material that had been repeated in newspapers hundreds and thousands of times. Aside from the inexplicable background music, if there was any difference, it was probably that the radio did not show the photograph on the front page.
He looked rather handsome.
Rita Skeeter had even written to him specifically, saying she wanted to write a