The Stolen Wand

The next morning, Kyle was still asleep when a burst of noisy conversation woke him.

He opened his eyes and listened carefully. Once he realized there was no panic in the voices drifting up, he breathed a sigh of relief. After getting dressed, he walked out of his room with a yawn.

The voices were coming from downstairs. One listen was enough to tell that it was Harry, Ron, and the others.

"They picked a new Minister after just one night."

At the dining table, Ron looked at the latest issue of the Daily Prophet that had arrived that morning. "This is probably the fastest the Ministry of Magic has ever moved."

"How could something like this possibly be slow?" Hermione shot him an annoyed look. "Did you expect the Ministry to hold another election? Think of how much time that would waste. What if the Death Eaters attacked again in the meantime?"

"I know, I was just saying." Ron grumbled. "But does anyone know who this new Minister is?

"Amelia Bones... I remember there's a Bones in Hufflepuff too. What was her name again?"

"Susan Bones," Harry and Hermione said almost at the same time.

"How do you two know that so well?" Ron asked, giving them a puzzled look.

"Because of Horace Slughorn," Harry explained. "At the start of last term, he invited Susan Bones to have lunch with him in his compartment."

"I saw her at the Slug Club dinners after school started, too," Hermione said. "But I only saw her twice. She never went again after that."

"I think that was during the period when Madam Bones was attacked by the Death Eaters and had to be sent to St Mungo's.

"That was just how he was. He liked making connections with students from influential families,