Eloquence twirled her parasol absentmindedly as the sun beat down a veritable heaven's glow on Diagon Alley. She was re-reading the crumpled letter in her hand as she turned the corner, heading for Lytton's where she'd be meeting her lady's maid. But then she looked up — and it happened. Rats. Everywhere! She was often quick to react to unexpected happenings, but those happenings were normally social and not riddled with fleas. So the young debutante took a frozen wide-eyed moment to observe the bizarre hordes of vermin still cascading up from the sewers and into the streets, and by the time that moment was over there were rats wriggling at the hem of her dress.

She could not hold in a squeal of distress as she backed off and climbed up onto an upturned milk crate. Loq stuffed the letter into her purse and gathered up her skirts, but with the other hand still grasping her parasol she had no hands left to grab her wand. Panic had swept over her like a plague.