Ford had been having a bit of a rough week, though only as far as work was concerned. The girls were doing quite well at all of their events, and to the best of his knowledge Mama hadn't even overspent her budget (much) this month, so that was all fine. It was even uncharitable to say that work had been rough, since most of the Spirit Ball earlier had been splendid. He'd been having a grand time up until Barnaby Wye started singing ballads making fun of George Robins, and even after that he was still having a mostly good time (just feeling vaguely guilty) up until the unauthorized hunt started. After that, however, he'd had to spent several hours of what should have been his sleep for the evening off chasing down ghost foxes and hounds in all the various neighborhoods of Hogsmeade. The ghosts participating all thought it was great fun, but they didn't have to get up and go to work the next morning, did they?

He was still catching up on the energy he'd lost on Tuesday night by the time he set off about his work on Thursday, so his feet were dragging a little. He didn't like this kind of work, particularly. Spirit-mirrors were technically legal, but they had always struck him as rather cruel, and so inspecting them wasn't a task he relished. The fact that these were in Knockturn, which was hardly a reputable shopping area, only made him more reluctant to go about it. He had decided he'd best just get through it as quickly as possible, but that plan was derailed quite quickly when he entered the shop and saw a familiar but unexpected face: Tycho Dodonus.

"Morning," he greeted, with obvious surprise. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

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