"Give it to me, and I'll tell you how to use it." A mocking, coldly arrogant voice came from behind them.
Harry and the others started and turned as one toward the voice.
Not far from them, more than a dozen figures had appeared, their bodies shrouded in black, hooded robes. They blocked Harry and the others' way from both sides, all holding up their wands and pointing them at the nine of them.
Lavender gave a quiet gasp, then hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand.
The person who had just spoken to Harry was tall, with a glimpse of platinum-blond hair visible beneath the edge of his hood. Combined with his voice, that was enough for Harry to recognize him.
Lucius Malfoy.
"Give me that thing, Potter," Lucius Malfoy said again, slowly extending his hand.
How was that possible?
Harry narrowed his eyes slightly, his face full of disbelief. Before entering the room, they had checked it with detection magic, making certain there was no one else inside before choosing to enter.
Yet now there were more than a dozen of them, considerably more than they had expected. The only consolation was that he had not spotted Voldemort or that Dismask among the crowd.
"What is this?" Harry was certainly not going to hand over the crystal ball so easily. Judging by the current situation, this was probably what Voldemort and the Order of the Phoenix had both been after since earlier that year.
"Take off your disguise, Lucius Malfoy. Do you still need to hide who you are?"
Although he still did not understand exactly what was going on, judging by what had already happened, this crystal ball seemed difficult to find-or rather, difficult to take?
Earlier, Ron had seen another crystal ball bearing a name ending