"So, who was eavesdropping on our conversation?" Seeing that Hermione looked a little embarrassed, Harry readily changed the subject.
"Mundungus Fletcher," Sirius said. "He was disguised, though. Quite successfully, apparently, wasn't he? None of you knew he was there."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione carefully thought back over the customers at the Hog's Head that day. Apart from a scruffy man at the bar who had been drinking the whole time, there had been someone in a corner who looked like a very old witch.
Although the former had been just as scruffy as Mundungus Fletcher, Harry and the others had seen his face. He definitely hadn't been Mundungus Fletcher.
Could it have been that witch?
The three exchanged glances, suddenly feeling that Mundungus Fletcher was quite willing to go the extra mile.
"So, why was Mundungus Fletcher there?" Harry asked, a little puzzled, then pointed at his own nose. "Surely he wasn't keeping an eye on me? What trouble could I possibly get into at Hogwarts?"
"But you could in Hogsmeade." Sirius shook his head. "The Death Eaters haven't been doing much lately, but it's still better to be safe."
Harry nodded, accepting Sirius's explanation. After all, he really had run into trouble in Hogsmeade, and more than once.
"But why was Mundungus Fletcher hiding from us? There are quite a few things we want to know. If we'd known he was there, we could have asked him," Ron said, sounding rather dissatisfied.
Harry and Hermione nodded repeatedly too. Since arriving at Hogwarts, they had received almost no news of the Order of the Phoenix. Expecting to get information from Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore was clearly unrealistic.
"Well, that's a bit awkward to explain." Sirius seemed to have remembered something amusing, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"He