It was the middle of the Summer Holidays and the Weasleys plus Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were spending the holiday at The Burrow.
Harry, Ron and Hermione had all agreed to go out to Arthur Weasley's shed to help him out that morning because it was sunny and they weren't allowed to leave The Burrow on strict instructions from Albus Dumbledore. Ron's parents weren't ones to ignore the headmaster of Hogwarts so, naturally, they forced the children to stay there.
"What do you think your dad wants help with?" Harry asked Ron as they made their way down the little track around the woodland area towards Arthur's shed.
"I'm really not sure, although it probably has something to do with ducks," Ron replied and they all laughed. As they approached the shed, they saw that Arthur had laid out several boxes full of bicycle parts and door handles that he had collected from muggle salesmen.
"Ah, good morning, you three," he said, smiling broadly at them. "I'd like you all to help me to sort out these spare parts I've collected. I think they're going to come in useful soon!"
Hermione looked extremely confused as to how any of these items could be useful at all. Having come from a muggle family, she saw all of the items before her as common, useless items that most muggles would gladly sell to Arthur for whatever ridiculous amount he was willing to pay. "What do you plan to do with all of this junk?" she asked.
"Junk? My dear, this is not junk! This is fascinating equipment which I need to examine thoroughly!" Arthur exclaimed, an excited look in his eyes.
Hermione shook her head a little but decided to just let Arthur get on with it. He had been fascinated with muggle items for all the time she had known him and she had given up trying to convince him that it was of no interest to him, really.
To her surprise, he then said, "And besides, my plans are restricted to those who truly have an interest in muggle artefacts! If you're not interested, go and do something you are interested in!"
Hermione nodded a little, "Okay, I really should be studying so I think I'll go and do that instead," she said, walking off towards the house again with a hurt look upon her face, having been told she was wrong. Ron glared at his dad a little, and then followed Hermione, leaving only Harry there with Arthur.
"Would you like to help me with this, Harry?" Arthur asked hopefully. Harry immediately nodded, picking up a few items from one of the boxes and laying them out on the grass beside the ones Arthur had already collected. "There must be a formula to fixing these things," Arthur said, looking at a couple of parts in his hands.
"I don't think there's a formula, Mr Weasley," Harry said, laughing a little and slotting a couple of the pieces into place, "There was possibly an instruction manual once but I doubt there's a formula."
After several hours of working at the pieces, they had successfully put together two bicycles and countless door handles had been reunited with their rightful doors which Arthur had also bought. They decided to take a rest and headed back into the house, noticing a black dog sitting at the gate to the driveway on the way to the house.
"Do you think that creature is s a spy?" Arthur asked, frowning a little as he watched the dog.
"No, I doubt it," Harry replied, "Probably just a stray," he said, paying little attention to the dog which would later be known as Padfoot, or Sirius Black. They entered the house, going straight to sit down and have a rest.
Arthur sat down in a chair in the kitchen, stretching and then helping himself to a plate of chips. He offered one to Harry as well and then they sat talking for a while about their discoveries of the day, deciding that over all, it had been very successful.