"How did you sleep?"
Bill did not turn around or stop what he was doing, carefully sliding an ancient-looking roll of parchment into a specially made waterproof tube in his bag.
"Like I'd been hit with Petrificus Totalus."
Douglas walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.
"Good. You'll need to be sharp today."
Bill zipped up his tool bag and turned around, his face lit with irrepressible excitement.
"Ready for your surprise?"
"As long as it isn't another mummified cat that bares its teeth at me."
Douglas leaned against the doorframe, drinking his water.
Bill burst out laughing. He took a cowhide waterskin from the shelf in the corner and tossed it over.
"Here. It's chilled lemonade. I put a Warming Charm and Scourgify on it."
Douglas caught the waterskin. It felt icy cold in his hand, particularly pleasant on this dry morning.
"Where are we going? Do we need a flying carpet?"
"No, too conspicuous." Bill picked up an ordinary-looking Muggle car key and twirled it around a fingertip. "Those Ministry of Magic tracking spells are like fireworks in the night sky over Egypt. We're going by road. Keeping a low profile."
He pointed downstairs.
"I got hold of a Muggle off-roader. Runs beautifully, just a little old. Sometimes Muggle things work better than magic."
Douglas wholeheartedly agreed.
The chilled lemonade slid down his throat, washing away the dryness of just waking up.
Douglas slung the waterskin's leather strap over his shoulder and followed Bill out the door.
An army-green Land Rover stood in the courtyard, its paint faded in several places and a long scratch running across its door. It looked exactly like a beetle that had spent too long rolling around in the desert.
Douglas climbed into the passenger seat. The leather upholstery