THE LEAKY CAULDRON

There is a low, constant hum of murmured conversation as lights come up on a dilapidated but lively pub — The Leaky Cauldron. There is a haze of smoke at the ceiling. Nearly every wall and column are plastered with moving black-and-white photographs for "Wanted Criminal, HARRY POTTER — alias Lord Blitzfanger" and "Known Accomplice, FENRIR GREYBACK — defacto leader of The Tempest".

RON and HERMIONE are seated by the fireside, sharing a table with a long-bearded OLD FELLOW in a thick, beastly jacket lined with dingy-gray fur. He guards a shoulder bag on the floor with his leg. OLD FELLOW opens a copy of the Daily Prophet. HARRY's moving portrait can be seen on the front page.

RON (hushed): Is there really no better place in Britain to have this conversation than The Leaky Cauldron?

OLD FELLOW: Before I became an Auror I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise. Hiding in plain sight is the best strategy.

HERMIONE: That's all well and good, but your scar is visible and there's a streak of brown in your beard.

OLD FELLOW raises his eyebrows then wiggles his chin back and forth. The brown streak disappears. He rubs his forehead. It's HARRY!

HARRY: Better?

HERMIONE: Considerably. (beat) And I'll admit, Harry, I had my doubts on the tube. The transfiguration of another's likeness is a skill no wizard has yet to master. But you succeeded in capturing most of that man's appearance. I'm impressed.

HARRY: Necessity is the mother of invention.

RON: Is that one of Dumbledore's phrases?

HERMIONE: No, Ron. That was Plato.

He looks confused.

Muggle.

RON shrugs and takes out the page torn from NEVILLE's book as they continue to strategize.

RON: We need all this to take Moody out of the potion, eh? Polyjuice doesn't agree with me. Never has. Never will.

He takes a long swig from a pint of amber beer and scans the page.

The blue eye of an Indian Peacock. That's entirely too specific.

HERMIONE: I think it's referring to the detail on the feather.

RON (reading aloud): Right — powdered Scarabax shell. (beat, he considers this) They knock about on feathers, don't they? Maybe we can kill two birds with that one.

HERMIONE: Really, Ron? Is now the right time to make puns?

RON: It's an idiom.

He grins in that RON WEASLEY sort of way, then gets back to the list.

And pearl dust is a relatively rare ingredient, isn't it?

HERMIONE: Mainly because it's pretty expensive.

HARRY: If I could get to my vault at Gringotts, perhaps —

HERMIONE: Goblin Rebellion, remember? (to RON) It's chiefly found in love potions, amongst other things.

HARRY: And those were outlawed ages ago.

RON laughs to himself.

HERMIONE: What do you find so amusing?

RON: Fred and George knew it was bound to happen. One day. They took the lot — back when Weasleys Wizard Wheezes opened its doors. The storeroom was packed to the gills with little bottles of love potion. Took 'em years to shift. They kept on raising the prices. George made a fortune off them in the end.

HARRY: That could be our solution for the pearl dust, then. Good thinking, Ron.

RON (boastfully): I've always been rather good at thinking...

His lofty grin fades and he glares at HERMIONE, who is already smirking.

Hold your tongue, woman. I'm the father of your blessed children.

They take each other by the hand. HARRY glances over the top of the newspaper. He enjoys seeing them like this. Then his gaze dips to the torn page and his expression becomes rigid.

HARRY: Nothing on that list matters if we can't get the potion from Mad-Eye.

HERMIONE (to HARRY): How confident are you about that flask of his?

HARRY: Fairly confident. I've thought about it for years. Crouch must've had an Undetectable Extension Charm on that flask. He needed the potion on hand at all times. Dumbledore would've noticed if there was a cauldron of Polyjuice constantly brewing in Moody's chambers. I'm thinking Crouch prepared a year's worth before the switch — stands to reason. There should be enough left in the flask for one portion.

RON: One? But all three of us need a way past the front door at Malfoy's.

HARRY: No, I need you outside.

RON stares at HARRY, bewildered.

RON: But... the protection on Delphi's bedchamber... You told us Draco didn't have the vaguest idea what sort of magic they used. Shouldn't we face that together?

HERMIONE (hesitating, to RON): It's because of Al and Scorpius. Harry needs us to stop them from getting into Malfoy Manor.

HARRY: Exactly. Then the two of you will use their Time-Turner to take the boys back before they can affect the future in any way.

RON: Isn't it the same Time-Turner?

HARRY: Yes, but from a different point in the timeline. Trust me, Ron. I've run the numbers. (beat) None of us can be seen. Especially Scorpius. He's the spitting image of his father.

HERMIONE: This brings up my greatest concern, Harry. The way I see it, the danger we face lies in the risk of being noticed. The smallest misstep could cause serious damage and we can't run into anyone who might recognize us.

HARRY: Then we go back further.

RON: Not years. Decades.

HERMIONE: Most shops are out of the question, no matter the date. Anything we gather from the list must go unnoticed. And we need access to books — lots of books — if we're going to find the proper formula.

HARRY: And since this is Polyjuice Potion we're talking about...

HERMIONE: Banned books, as well.

She considers something privately.

You know, Professor Quirrell had quite the collection of banned books. I went looking through his shelves first year. Had I been more perceptive at the time, perhaps we could've stopped him sooner.

HERMIONE notices the grin forming behind HARRY's transfigured beard.

What? Why are you grinning?

HARRY folds the newspaper. He reaches into his jacket and takes out a worn square of parchment. He lays it down on the table, rather slowly.

RON: Is that what I think it is?

HARRY nods. He taps it with his wand.

HARRY: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

The three of them stare at the parchment. We are to understand that it's coming alive.

RON: So... Hogwarts, then?

HARRY: We'll already be there to nick the flask from Moody.

HERMIONE: The Marauder's Map will show us where everyone is at all times.

HARRY: If we happen to find ourselves in a spot of bother, I brought along an old friend.

He taps the shoulder bag on the ground near the hearth.

The invisibility cloak.

HERMIONE (brightly): Making detection nearly impossible. Harry, this could actually work.

RON: Brilliant! We can brew the potion while we're there.

HERMIONE: And I just got an idea about the Peacock feather.

HERMIONE takes the page and starts scrawling on it with her quill. She shows them. They nod.

HERMIONE: This will all take some doing — and we'll be jumping back and forth quite a bit — even so, if Harry is going to remove the child from Malfoy Manor during the Battle of Hogwarts, we'll be hard-pressed to pluck an age-appropriate hair from one of the Malfoys during all that. Unless we can find one of Draco's just lying around the Slytherin dormitory during our seventh year. But that's taking an awful risk.

RON: Nah, we'll just throw on the old cloak and...

RON mimes the act of sneaking up to someone. He clicks his tongue as he plucks a pretend hair from the smoky sky.

Easily done.

He drinks from his pint and licks his lips. Behind them, the door to the Leaky Cauldron opens. DRACO MALFOY enters with a limp, a single black glove on his left hand, a slick black cane propping him up. He sees RON and HERMIONE and breaths deeply.

HARRY: I had a different idea.

HARRY, as the OLD FELLOW, nods to DRACO. He nods back.