Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. ” Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort.Ī handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion’s head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge. The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men’s footsteps.
Neither of them broke step: In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men’s way. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. You sound confident that your reception will be good?” “It was a little trickier than I expected. “Thought I might be late,” said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke the moonlight. The men’s long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched.
The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other’s chests then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction. The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.
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