“IТ m a soldier, IТ d sooner be a protector,” said Mundungus.
“Shut it,” growled Moody. “As IТ ve already told you, you spineless worm, any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore a l
ways said You-Know-Who would want to finish Potter in pe r
son. ItТ ll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Ea t
ersТ ll want to kill them.”
Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but Moody was already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one.
“Altogether, then … “
Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus drank. All of them gasped and gri m aced as the potion hit
their throats; At once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax. Hermione and Mundungus were shoo t
ing upward; Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking; their hair was darke n ing, HermioneТ s and FleurТ
s appearing to shoot backward into their skulls.
Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him.
Fred and George turned to each other and said t o gether, “Wow Ц weТ re identical!”
“I dunno, though, I think IТ m still be t ter-looking,” said Fred, examining his refle
c tion in the kettle.
“Bah,” said Fleur, checking herself in the m
i crowave door, “Bill, donТ t look at me Ц IТ m С ideous.”
“Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, IТ ve got smaller here,” said Moody, indicating the first sack, “and vice versa. DonТ t forget the glasses, thereТ s six pairs in the side pocket. And when youТ re dressed, there
Т s luggage in the other sack.”
The real Harry thought that this might jus
t be the most bizarre thing he had ever seen, and he had seen some extremely odd things. He watched as his six doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling out sets of clothes, putting on glasses, stuffing their own things away. He felt like asking them t
o show a little more respect for privacy as they all began stripping off with impunity, clearly more at ease with displa y
ing his body than they would have been with their own.
“I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo,” said Ron, looking down at his bare chest.
“Harry, your eyesight really is awful,” said Hermione, as she put on glasses.
Once dressed, the fake Harrys took ruc k
sacks and owl cages, each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from the second sack.
“Good,” said Moody, as at last seven dressed, b e spectacled, and luggage-laden Ha
r rys faced him. “The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be traveling with me, by broom Ц “
“WhyТ m I with you?” grunted the Harry nearest the back door.
“Because youТ re the one that needs watching,” growled Moody, and sure enough, his magical eye did not waver from Mundu n
gus as he continued, “Arthur and Fred Ц “
“IТ m George,” said the twin at whom Moody was pointing. “CanТ t you even tell us apart when weТ re Harry?”
“Sorry, George Ц “
“IТ m only yanking your wand, IТ m Fred really Ц “
“Enough messing around!” snarled Moody. “The other one Ц George or Fred or whoever you are Ц youТ re with Remus. Miss Delacour Ц “
“IТ m taking Fleur on a thestral,” said Bill. “SheТ s not that fond of brooms.”
Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, slavish look that Harry hoped with all his heart would never appear on his face again.
“Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by the s tral Ц “
Hermione looked reassured as she answered KingsleyТ s smile; Harry knew that Hermione too lacked confidence on a broo m
stick.
“Which leaves you and me, Ron!” said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him.
Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione.
“AnТ youТ re with me, Harry. That all righТ ?” said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. “WeТ ll be on the bike, brooms anТ thestrals canТ t take me weight, see. Not a lot oТ
room on the seat with me on it, though, so youТ ll be in the sidecar.”
“ThatТ s great,” said Harry, not altogether trut h fully.
“We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom,” said Moody, who seemed to guess how Harry was feeling. “SnapeТ s had plenty of time to tell them everything about you heТ s never mentioned b
e fore, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, weТ re be
t ting theyТ ll choose one of the Potters who looks at home on a broomstick. All right then,”
he went on, tying up the sack with the fake PottersТ clothes in it and leading the way back to the door,
“I make it three minutes until weТ re supposed to leave. No point loc k ing the back door, it wonТ
t keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking. Come on …”
Harry hurried to gather his rucksack, Firebolt, and HedwigТ s cage and followed the group to the dark back garden.
On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the moto
r bike, goggles on.
“Is this it? Is this SiriusТ s bike?”
“The very same,” said Hagrid, bea m ing down at Harry. “AnТ
the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh in one hand!”
Harry could not help but feel a little humil i ated as he got into the sidecar. It placed him several feet b
e
low everybody else: Ron smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car. Harry stuffed his ruc k
sack and broomstick down by his feet and rammed HedwigТ s cage between his knees. He was e x
tremely uncomfortable.
“ArthurТ s done a bit oТ tinkerinТ ,” said Hagrid, quite oblivious to HarryТ s discomfort. He settled hi m
self astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. “ItТ s got a few tricks up its sleeves now. ThaТ one was my idea.”
He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the spee d ometer.
"Please be careful, Hagrid." said Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broo m
stick. "I'm still not sure that was advisable and it's ce r tainly only to be used in emergencies."
"All right, then." said Moody. "Everyone ready, please. I want us all to leave at e x
actly the same time or the whole point of the dive r sion's lost."
Everybody motioned their heads. "Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a forcing, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on each side of her waist. Hagrid kicked the moto
r bike into life: It roared like a dragon, and the sidecar began to vibrate.
“Good luck, everyone,” shouted Moody. “See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One … two .. THREE.”
There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry felt the sidecar give a nasty lurch. He was rising through th
e air fast, his eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off his face. Around him brooms were soaring upward too; the long black tail of a the s
tral flicked past. His legs, jammed into the sidecar by HedwigТ s cage and his rucksack, were a l
ready sore and starting to go numb. So great was his di s
comfort that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number four Privet Drive. By the time he looked over the edge of the sidecar he could no longer tell which one it was.
And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. At least thirty hooded figures, su s
pended in midair, formed a vast circle in the middle of which the Order members had risen, oblivious Ц
Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yell and the moto r bike rolled over.
Harry lost any sense of where they were. Streetlights above him, yells around him, he was clinging to the sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and his rucksack slipped from b
e neath his knees Ц
"No Ц HELP!"
The broomstick spun too, but he ju
st managed to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the cage.
"No Ц NO!"
The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle.
"Hedwig Ц Hedwig Ц "
But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage. He could not take it in, and his terror for the others was par a

mount. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were Ц
"Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled over the thunderous roar of the e n
gine, pulling out his wand, ra m
ming Hedwig's cage into the floor, refusing to believe that she was dead. "Hagrid, TURN AROUND!"
"My job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellow Hagrid, and he opened the throttle. "Stop Ц S
TOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were purs u
ing them, aiming for Hagrid's broad back. Hagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping up
with the bike; more curses shot after them, and Harry had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid them.
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