The first thing that tipped Edie off was how odd her friend Gina was acting at school a short time later, mixing up dates and names– and this in history, her favorite subject. When she accompanied her best friend to the bathroom to wash up after Physical Education, Edie got a good look at Gina's face in the mirror.
"What's wrong?" Gina asked vaguely as Edie recoiled. Gina's eyes were glazed over and blank, her jaw slack, even when she spoke. There was no mistaking it– someone had wiped Gina's memory, but who, and, perhaps more of a conundrum, why?
Edie thought about it as she walked home after classes. Regina Sloan was average to the nth degree: smart but not brilliant, pretty but not beautiful, somewhat outgoing, somewhat athletic. She was Edie's boring but highly reliable friend and next-door neighbor. She was– Edie's head began to spin. Gina was her next-door neighbor.
Hadn't Dumbledore said he first Apparated into a neighbor's house? He had even mentioned her name! Edie, too concerned about keeping her memory intact to think of much else, hadn't paid any heed to the strange occurrence. Magic couldn't do everything, evidently. It looked like the plans of even one of the most famous wizards in the world could be delayed by bad penmanship.
Which means, Edie though, that whoever erased Gina's memory will try again at my house, once they figure they got the wrong girl. For all Edie knew, a Ministry witch or wizard could be waiting at her house right then.
Edie stood at the foot of her house's driveway, not knowing what to do. Everything looked in order, but she couldn't possibly expect there to be a flashing neon sign on the roof, proclaiming a Ministry of Magic official lying in wait inside. In her mind, Edie had two choices: One, run. Get as far away as possible as soon as possible. That plan didn't seem practical at all. There might be some magic trip-wire all around the house which would reveal her presence even if she slipped in the back way to try to get some money out of her room. Suddenly, she realized what an idiot she was being, and just how little she knew about this world she was messing with. It would have to be plan two– go inside and face the music. It had been a nice run, and would make a nice entry in her journal. Perhaps remember the whole series of events as a dream would be best after all. The stress and all the anxiety would be gone. That was a plus. And Edie would no longer see "magic" in every unusual even in the village.
Then again, that exciting feeling that there were bigger things than university applications going on in the world would be gone, too.
Edie pulled out her key and unlocked the door.
"It's Edie! I'm home!" Edie called. Nobody answered. Nothing particularly unusual in that– her dad would be working, her mum volunteering at the retirement center as she did every few days, her younger brother and sister at daycare, her older sister at the boutique where she worked part-time. Edie was used to coming home to an empty house occasionally. What was strange was the note she found on the kitchen table.
Edie,
Just wanted to leave this note in case you left before we all came back. I got the message from your school today– congratulations! That scholarship program sounds like a perfect fit for your interests. Hope you have a lovely time in London (we'll all miss you). See you in a week!
Mum
Edie turned the letter over to see if there was a postscript of some sort, something to tell her this was all a practical joke. She hadn't applied for any scholarship program, and she definitely had no plans or intentions to go to London for a week. Unless–
CRACK!
Edie had grown accustomed to that sharp, loud sound and recognized it immediately as the sound that comes from Apparition. The only question was as to whom it was this time.
"It's all right– I've taken care of everything. I fabricated that message from your school, but I cross-checked: Your school thinks you're going to a scholarship program in London, too. The Ministry is slated to send someone to wipe your memory tonight, so we have a few hours. Your younger sister will be back from her day care by four, correct? All right, then, good. I found her alone when they were playing outside and turned a rock into a little golden snitch and her sand shovel into a broomstick, then back again. She'll be babbling about magic and Quidditch-related items all day, so the Ministry will never know they wiped the wrong Filbert. You need to pack quickly. I've gotten you a room at the Leaky Cauldron for a week– it's the last thing anyone will ever expect."
Percy finally stopped talking, only to find Edie looking as if she hadn't heard a word he'd said. "Edie? Are you all right?"
Edie took a step back, shaking her head.
"All right?" she squeaked. "All right? Are you kidding me? You can't… you just can't… you just can't keep messing with my life anymore!"
Percy looked confused. "I don't understand. I thought you wanted to remember!"
"Of course I do!" Edie cried. "But what I don't understand is why you want to go to such lengths to help me remember!" She was beyond confused and bewilderment now– she was livid.
"Nothing exciting ever happened to me until I took that Portkey, Percy, so when you lied about me being in the woods that night, I was very grateful that I still had my memory. I didn't quite understand why you'd done that, especially after what your brothers told me about you, but I was grateful and figured you just felt the same thing I did. But it was just chemistry. You don't know anything about me, and I don't know you either. Just chemistry doesn't make people create these elaborate schemes and plans of escape for girls they don't even know! So please, can you tell me what in the world you're doing this for?"
Edie was shouting by the end of her tirade, her face hot and flushed with anger. Percy looked a little shocked.
"You talked to my brothers?" he asked.
"WHAT?" Edie shouted.
"You said my brothers told you about me, that I was a Ministry-loving git, likely. You know them– have you written them since? How are they? Are they all right at Hogwarts, considering what's just…" he trailed off, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
Edie nodded. "I met Fred and George at the World Cup. They told me all about Hogwarts, and Quidditch, so I could answer people's questions. I haven't talked to them since, though. I don't know how they are."
Percy's face fell.
"Do you think something's happened to them?" Edie asked, concerned.
"No, no, of course not," he said, shaking his head. "It's just… I'm not on speaking terms with my family anymore. I don't really have any way of getting news about how they are… I tried to write my youngest brother a letter, but I know I came off like a prat. I don't blame him for not writing me back."
Edie felt like it probably wasn't any of her business, but asked: "What happened? Why aren't you talking?"
Percy shook his head. "Something stupid. It doesn't even matter anymore. I was… a wreck after I lied about you being there at the World Cup. You're absolutely right– it was just chemistry, nothing else. I beat myself up over that after, that I'd risked my job for 'just chemistry.'"
Edie nodded. Hadn't she beaten herself up too for dwelling on the whole Quidditch Cup event for so long?
"So I became obsessed with my work– absolutely obsessed. And still, I didn't even realize that my boss was under the Imperius–" Percy noted Edie's confused face. "Well, he wasn't my boss. Anyway, I had to go through an inquiry and everything looked horrible. I thought I was going to lose my job, but I got promoted, and my dad said it was because they wanted a spy in our house… I was still afraid, and defensive, and then… everything just blew out of proportion. I was so eager to cover up my mistake and prove I really was loyal to the Ministry that now I'm not talking to my family and I–" Edie watched as Percy's face contorted in a sort of spasm of grief and misery.
"I was there!" he shouted. "Can you imagine? I was there when they tried to arrest Dumbledore– Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in the world– and I was there. I helped them try to do it!"
The words rang out in the empty house and Edie, who had met Albus Dumbledore, was just as horrified as Percy seemed.
"No," she said.
"Yes!" he replied. "You wanted to know why I'm making these elaborate plans to keep you safe? That's why! I tried to have Albus Dumbledore arrested, and this is the only thing I can do that might actually help someone for a change!"
Edie didn't know what to say. She had never seen anyone so upset, so close to tearing their hair out. She figured that this had to be the perfect depiction of the word "unhinged." Percy Weasley was feeling guilty and regretful and could only think of one thing to do that wouldn't make him a prat– get her out of danger.
Edie sighed and figured she might just be crazy herself. She looked up and crossed her arms. "What's in London?" she asked.
Percy breathed a sigh of relief. "It's called the Leaky Cauldron."