Chapter Four
"Diagon Alley"
The four boys bounded into the tiny kitchen and made their way around the table. Everyone sat down and began piling food onto their plates. Ginny's face was very red as Harry passed her the sausages and he smiled to himself. On one end of the table the talk was of Quidditch and the upcoming season, and the other end the talk was of finances and how the Weasleys were going to afford the books and supplies for this school year and Ginny sat quietly in the middle. Harry heard a bit of what they were saying and wished he could help them, but he knew better than to offer his gold to them even though he would give them every last bit of gold he had in his Gringotts account. He thought that it would probably insult Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and he knew Ron would most likely resent it, and he didn't want to do anything to ruin their friendship. Last year, they had spent a while not speaking to each other because Ron was jealous of all the attention Harry was getting- not that Harry had asked for any of the attention. Suddenly Mrs. Weasley spoke, startling Harry from his thoughts. "Oh, I forgot to tell you boys, I received an owl from Hermione while you were out playing, she said she will be coming here tomorrow afternoon so we can all go to Diagon Alley together." Then she stuffed another spoonful of potatoes in her mouth. Ron grimaced. "I wonder if she went to see Krum this summer, I don't reckon she did or she would have told us, right Harry?" Harry knew all too well how jealous Ron was of Viktor Krum when he had taken Hermione to the Yule Ball last Christmas, so he didn't dare say anything so he shrugged and took another bite of scone. After dinner the Weasleys and Harry spread out in the den. Ron and Harry played a smashing game of wizards chess (literally), Fred and George played exploding snap, Ginny was doing some of her summer homework, and Percy was in the office at the Ministry of Magic working overtime. After Ginny had fallen asleep on top of her books and Ron had beaten Harry at chess four times, and let Harry win once to keep him from feeling too dejected, they went upstairs to bed. The next morning Ron and Harry traded chocolate frog cards until Hermione arrived by floo powder at quarter after one. She greeted them both with a hug. She had only grown about an inch, and her hair was a little shorter than the last time they saw her. Ron didn't waste any time interrogating her about her summer break. "So, Hermione, how was Viktor this summer? Did you go meet him? Did you go and snog with him? Did you? Did you?" Hermione looked hurt and taken aback, she slapped Ron across the face and turned and walked upstairs with Ginny who also looked thoroughly disgusted. Harry tried to fight off a laugh, he hadn't seen Hermione slap anyone like that since her third year when she slapped Malfoy. Harry, however, tried to comfort his friend and mumbled something like, "Humph, women." Ron was just glad that George and Fred hadn't been there to see that, but Mrs. Weasley on the other hand was, and she grabbed Ron by the reddening ear and dragged him off to the kitchen to yell at him. Harry just stood by the fireplace not sure whether to go comfort Hermione, who he wasn't sure would like to see a male face of any kind, or to go and comfort Ron, but he was afraid he might be succumbed to Mrs. Weasleys' wrath as well. So he just stood uncomfortably by the fireplace. Soon enough Ron came back into the living room looking utterly harassed, but he managed to croak, "Er, hiya Harry, all right?" Then he collapsed onto the couch without blinking. After Mrs. Weasley went up to get Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, (and after a short apology by Ron to Hermione) they threw some floo powder into the fireplace and took their turns stepping inside and shouting, "Diagon Alley!" Once they got to Diagon Alley they went to Gringotts Wizard Bank. Harry got some money out of his account and felt really guilty taking gold from his huge inheritance, for when they got to the Weasleys vault, it was quite empty and they seemed to gather the last of it into a small velvet bag. Then they walked to one of the goblin's desks to exchange Hermione's muggle money for wizard's gold. Next they went to Flourish and Blotts and bought all the books that were on their lists. Harry checked his list as he went along, Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five; Advanced Transfiguration, Unfogging the Mind, Fourth Edition; Magical Creatures you never dreamed existed, (Harry flinched when he read the name of this title, he couldn't imagine what Hagrid must have in store for them this year if they were learning about creatures they'd never dreamed of before!) and a book that they needed to take the O.W.L.s, The Ordinary Wizarding Levels: Good Luck, Suckers. The title of this book not only made Harry feel anxious, but Ron was pale as ever, and Hermione had begun to stutter slightly. Now that they all had their new books, they went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and were measured for their new robes and made adjustments to some of the robes they already had. Harry decided to buy a new wizard's hat, since his head had gotten a little larger over the last year, he decided not to mention that to anyone because of the jokes people would make about Harry having a big head. So he picked out a scarlet hat which was pointed at the tip. He thought it looked nice with his emerald eyes and it was one of the colors of Gryffindor. After they bought everything they needed, Harry treated them all to an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. They enjoyed their ice cream and had a lot of laughs on their last night before they would be back on the Hogwarts' Express on their way to school. The next morning they all awoke early and packed their trunks. Then they made their ways sleepily downstairs to the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley had conjured a breakfast feast. They all ate quietly until there was a loud explosion from upstairs followed by laughter. "Fred! George! What the bloody hell are you doing up there! If I come up there and see a mess that I have to clean up, you will both have leeks sprouting out of your ears!" Mrs. Weasley shouted up from the bottom of the steps. She came bounding back into the kitchen, she obviously had been shaking her large spoon at the twins because she had pancake mix in her hair. "Oh those two, I swear! They are going to drive me straight to St. Mungo's!" Just then the twins came strolling into the kitchen trying to stifle grins. "Sorry, mum, had a bit of trouble for a moment, but it's all right now, promise," said George. Harry leaned over and whispered to George, "What was that explosion?" George grinned and leaned in for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to all hear, "Dungbomb in Percy's room." Ron snorted in his porridge and milk squirted out of Ginny's nose. Her face turned the same color as Uncle Vernon's had a few days before and she ran upstairs to get away from the laughter. Hermione, Ron and Harry shot each other amused grins. "Oi, mum, can we go to Kings Cross on our own this time? After all, we're both seventh years, and Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny'll be all right with us, we promise. It's not like we're driving, dad's gotten us ministry cars with drivers. please mum?" Fred asked in an angelic voice. "Oh I suppose, I've got enough work here to keep me busy for a month! Go on and give me hugs, your trunks are already in the cars. I love you all, dears." Mrs. Weasley hugged them all and saw them to the door. She watched as the cars drove away when she heard footsteps behind her. It was Percy, in his pajamas. Then the smell hit Mrs. Weasleys' nostrils. "MUM! DUNGBOMB! IN.MY.ROOM!" Percy shouted as smelly green steam rolled off of him.
"Diagon Alley"
The four boys bounded into the tiny kitchen and made their way around the table. Everyone sat down and began piling food onto their plates. Ginny's face was very red as Harry passed her the sausages and he smiled to himself. On one end of the table the talk was of Quidditch and the upcoming season, and the other end the talk was of finances and how the Weasleys were going to afford the books and supplies for this school year and Ginny sat quietly in the middle. Harry heard a bit of what they were saying and wished he could help them, but he knew better than to offer his gold to them even though he would give them every last bit of gold he had in his Gringotts account. He thought that it would probably insult Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and he knew Ron would most likely resent it, and he didn't want to do anything to ruin their friendship. Last year, they had spent a while not speaking to each other because Ron was jealous of all the attention Harry was getting- not that Harry had asked for any of the attention. Suddenly Mrs. Weasley spoke, startling Harry from his thoughts. "Oh, I forgot to tell you boys, I received an owl from Hermione while you were out playing, she said she will be coming here tomorrow afternoon so we can all go to Diagon Alley together." Then she stuffed another spoonful of potatoes in her mouth. Ron grimaced. "I wonder if she went to see Krum this summer, I don't reckon she did or she would have told us, right Harry?" Harry knew all too well how jealous Ron was of Viktor Krum when he had taken Hermione to the Yule Ball last Christmas, so he didn't dare say anything so he shrugged and took another bite of scone. After dinner the Weasleys and Harry spread out in the den. Ron and Harry played a smashing game of wizards chess (literally), Fred and George played exploding snap, Ginny was doing some of her summer homework, and Percy was in the office at the Ministry of Magic working overtime. After Ginny had fallen asleep on top of her books and Ron had beaten Harry at chess four times, and let Harry win once to keep him from feeling too dejected, they went upstairs to bed. The next morning Ron and Harry traded chocolate frog cards until Hermione arrived by floo powder at quarter after one. She greeted them both with a hug. She had only grown about an inch, and her hair was a little shorter than the last time they saw her. Ron didn't waste any time interrogating her about her summer break. "So, Hermione, how was Viktor this summer? Did you go meet him? Did you go and snog with him? Did you? Did you?" Hermione looked hurt and taken aback, she slapped Ron across the face and turned and walked upstairs with Ginny who also looked thoroughly disgusted. Harry tried to fight off a laugh, he hadn't seen Hermione slap anyone like that since her third year when she slapped Malfoy. Harry, however, tried to comfort his friend and mumbled something like, "Humph, women." Ron was just glad that George and Fred hadn't been there to see that, but Mrs. Weasley on the other hand was, and she grabbed Ron by the reddening ear and dragged him off to the kitchen to yell at him. Harry just stood by the fireplace not sure whether to go comfort Hermione, who he wasn't sure would like to see a male face of any kind, or to go and comfort Ron, but he was afraid he might be succumbed to Mrs. Weasleys' wrath as well. So he just stood uncomfortably by the fireplace. Soon enough Ron came back into the living room looking utterly harassed, but he managed to croak, "Er, hiya Harry, all right?" Then he collapsed onto the couch without blinking. After Mrs. Weasley went up to get Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, (and after a short apology by Ron to Hermione) they threw some floo powder into the fireplace and took their turns stepping inside and shouting, "Diagon Alley!" Once they got to Diagon Alley they went to Gringotts Wizard Bank. Harry got some money out of his account and felt really guilty taking gold from his huge inheritance, for when they got to the Weasleys vault, it was quite empty and they seemed to gather the last of it into a small velvet bag. Then they walked to one of the goblin's desks to exchange Hermione's muggle money for wizard's gold. Next they went to Flourish and Blotts and bought all the books that were on their lists. Harry checked his list as he went along, Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five; Advanced Transfiguration, Unfogging the Mind, Fourth Edition; Magical Creatures you never dreamed existed, (Harry flinched when he read the name of this title, he couldn't imagine what Hagrid must have in store for them this year if they were learning about creatures they'd never dreamed of before!) and a book that they needed to take the O.W.L.s, The Ordinary Wizarding Levels: Good Luck, Suckers. The title of this book not only made Harry feel anxious, but Ron was pale as ever, and Hermione had begun to stutter slightly. Now that they all had their new books, they went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and were measured for their new robes and made adjustments to some of the robes they already had. Harry decided to buy a new wizard's hat, since his head had gotten a little larger over the last year, he decided not to mention that to anyone because of the jokes people would make about Harry having a big head. So he picked out a scarlet hat which was pointed at the tip. He thought it looked nice with his emerald eyes and it was one of the colors of Gryffindor. After they bought everything they needed, Harry treated them all to an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. They enjoyed their ice cream and had a lot of laughs on their last night before they would be back on the Hogwarts' Express on their way to school. The next morning they all awoke early and packed their trunks. Then they made their ways sleepily downstairs to the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley had conjured a breakfast feast. They all ate quietly until there was a loud explosion from upstairs followed by laughter. "Fred! George! What the bloody hell are you doing up there! If I come up there and see a mess that I have to clean up, you will both have leeks sprouting out of your ears!" Mrs. Weasley shouted up from the bottom of the steps. She came bounding back into the kitchen, she obviously had been shaking her large spoon at the twins because she had pancake mix in her hair. "Oh those two, I swear! They are going to drive me straight to St. Mungo's!" Just then the twins came strolling into the kitchen trying to stifle grins. "Sorry, mum, had a bit of trouble for a moment, but it's all right now, promise," said George. Harry leaned over and whispered to George, "What was that explosion?" George grinned and leaned in for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to all hear, "Dungbomb in Percy's room." Ron snorted in his porridge and milk squirted out of Ginny's nose. Her face turned the same color as Uncle Vernon's had a few days before and she ran upstairs to get away from the laughter. Hermione, Ron and Harry shot each other amused grins. "Oi, mum, can we go to Kings Cross on our own this time? After all, we're both seventh years, and Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny'll be all right with us, we promise. It's not like we're driving, dad's gotten us ministry cars with drivers. please mum?" Fred asked in an angelic voice. "Oh I suppose, I've got enough work here to keep me busy for a month! Go on and give me hugs, your trunks are already in the cars. I love you all, dears." Mrs. Weasley hugged them all and saw them to the door. She watched as the cars drove away when she heard footsteps behind her. It was Percy, in his pajamas. Then the smell hit Mrs. Weasleys' nostrils. "MUM! DUNGBOMB! IN.MY.ROOM!" Percy shouted as smelly green steam rolled off of him.