At the junction of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, Tonks, dressed in the plain robes Aurors wore for undercover work, looked up at the bright moonlight and felt excitement surge through her. Today was a big day, and a lucky one too. Just look-even the moon was smiling at her.
She put on her hood, hiding the hair that had turned pink with excitement, patted her hot cheeks, then tied on a mask to conceal her face, giving herself a muffled pep talk:
"You can do this, Tonks. This might be your first solo patrol, but you've been through Knockturn Alley hundreds of times. Even if you always run into troublemakers here, those small fry clearly won't be a problem for you-ready? Three, two, one-who's there!"
The instant she caught a furtive dark figure flashing past the end of the alley out of the corner of her eye, Tonks drew the wand at her waist without hesitation and cast a full Shield Charm around herself.
Mr. Moody had once said that whenever anything unexpected happened, a good Auror had to ensure their own safety first, then consider their next move. Tonks had taken that lesson to heart.
Immediately afterward, a long streak of silver light raced after the dark figure. Tonks took off in pursuit, but just then, a passerby behind her suddenly cried, "Oh!" It was a very elderly woman,
who held her head and stared at Tonks with cloudy eyes. About to give chase, Tonks turned at the sound and realized the old woman had bumped into her spell. She jolted, said "Sorry" twice, and habitually pulled a honey sweet from her pocket, offering it to the old woman
by way of apology.
"Sorry, are you all right?" Tonks asked with some concern, her gaze straying toward the