Chapter Nine:
"You don't have to get rid of them, James," Harry sighed. "I'm sure they're fine. They definitely weren't recalled…"
"Then what was that all about then?" James asked.
"It had something to do with me," said Ev. "Don't bother trying to lie. He didn't get like that until he heard my name."
Harry cringed.
"Well?" demanded Evan.
Harry hesitated, looking at Ginny as if she might be able to help. When it became apparent that she couldn't, Harry continued, "George probably feels kind of guilty. Because uh, he tested a product on your father once."
"What? Why?"
Lily and Al had the decency to look away and at least try not to listen. James however, seemed fascinated. Evan half expected him to pull out a bag of popcorn and start chowing down like he was at the movies.
Harry looked just as uncomfortable as George had. "It was an accident. George and his brothers were uh, visiting me at your grandparents' house and they dropped a bag of their prototypes. They forgot to pick one of them up. Dudley ate it on accident."
Ev narrowed his eyes, knowing that Harry hadn't exactly lied, but left out a few details. He had said "accident" one too many times. "And what did it do to Dad?"
"Made his… tongue swell up… and grow about four feet long…" Harry admitted.
Evan gaped. He had spent years being mystified about why his grandparents hated magic so much. His father had insisted over and over that it was unwarranted. He had been lying! There was reason number one right here. Was that only first of a long list? Was that the sort of thing wizards did? Play pranks on normal people? What had Ev gotten himself into?
He sighed, still holding onto the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes products, even though he suddenly didn't want them anymore.
"It was nearly twenty-five years ago!" said Harry desperately.
"Come on, can we go to dinner already?" burst out Al suddenly. "Breakfast was ages ago. I'm starving."
"Yes, it's been a long day," agreed Ginny. "We need to eat."
They went back to Leaky Cauldron and found a table that would fit all of them. Harry insisted that Evan shouldn't pay for his dinner; the meal was on him.
Ev protested for a full two minutes before he conceded. Over dinner, the Potters sorted out Ev's books, potion ingredients, and other equipment, putting them all into Evan's empty cauldron.
"There you go," said Ginny kindly, pushing the cauldron across the table towards Evan. "That's everything you need. Oh, and here's your change," she added, digging three sickles out of her pocket and handing them to Evan.
"Thank you."
While they ate desert, Lily and Ev showed everyone their new wands while the others marveled at their excellence, insisting that Evan and Lily were meant to perform great magic.
Evan was starting to feel a little better when Harry announced it was time to start heading home. he felt a strange sensation in his stomach, as if he'd just swallowed an ice cube. Home. He suddenly remembered his father and the Ton-Tongue Toffee.