Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home
They pulled into the driveway at the Burrow and piled out. Mrs. Weasley was standing there to greet them, grinning.
"Hi, Harry! It's been a while since I last saw you! How have you been?"
"Oh, pretty good…"
"You should write more. Ron was certainly worried about you!" she said, making Harry feel guilty.
She then turned and took a look at Sarah and Annette.
"Arthur, are we now bringing home street urchins?"
"Well, not really, dear, they're friends of Harry's."
"Well then, wash up and then barrow some of Ginny's clothes. And try not to get the countertops messy, I just wiped them down!"
"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Annette said with a little bow. "We won't be here for long; we'll leave as soon as possible."
"That's nonsense! You can stay here forever if you want."
"Thank you kindly."
They walked inside and suddenly Sarah spotted a glowing orb sitting on a coffee table.
"Ooh, is this a real-"
"Don't touch that without washing your hands!"
Ron sighed.
"Typical."
"Yeah," Ginny added, "Mum's been having hissy fits for a while now. I think it's stress."
"Hissy fits?" demanded Mrs. Weasley. "No dinner for you tonight, young lady!"
Ginny looked resigned, as if this often happens.
"Don't worry," whispered Ron. "I'll sneak you up some candy after she goes to bed."
"So, Ron, what is that thing Sarah was pointing at?"
"Oh, that's a Luminoball -- our light source. It automatically lights up any room that we're in at night. Except, well, Mum controls it and turns it off really early. Charlie gave it to Mum last Christmas. I don't think he cares about us kids anymore."
"How'd the muggles treat you? And how did you end up running around with those girls?"
Harry told them the story including embellishment of his heroic moments on the train. Just as he was finishing up, Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon bust into the room closely followed by a rather large ball of ginger fur that was growling like mad and making some pretty impressive jumps.
"I see you're taking care of Crookshanks this summer…"
"Yeah, well, he's been a complete pest. Pig keeps teasing him. They've gotten into some terrible fights."
"Where's Hermione?"
"Well, she was at Krum's, but they had a fight, I guess, and broke up. She's coming here, I think, but she's going to visit her muggle family first."
"And, Ginny, how have you been?"
"Ugh, not so good. This has been the summer of bad relationships. Dean Thomas isn't coming back next year."
"What? Why?"
"Well, he passed enough OWLs to do what he wants to do, a career in muggle relations, and he's not coming back for NEWTs."
"Oh. Well, it sounds like this summer hasn't been too great for you guys… Hey, have either of you heard of something called a Drakhan?"
Their faces were completely blank, Harry knew that they weren't lying, but he remembered the strange way that the Forgotten acted when he asked them about it. He would have to ask Annette again.
Just then, Mrs. Weasley walked in followed by Sarah, who was pointing and asking about everything.
"Well, I'll get dinner on… Yes, dear, that's a Grogron. It makes plants grow better. No, it's not… That's a wall. Oh, my, thank you so much for pointing that fingerprint stain out!"
"Where's Annette?" asked Harry.
"She's in the shower. She'll be out momentarily. Arthur, get in here and help with dinner! You took the day off today; you have no excuse to be lazy!"
Mr. Weasley reluctantly walked into the kitchen and began helping Mrs. Weasley prepare a feast for the guests.
"Here's your OWL results, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, handing Harry a thick envelope. Slightly worried, Harry opened them up.
Charms: Written: E Practical: OTransfiguration: Written: E Practical: E
Potions: Written: O Practical: O ("Yes!" Harry screamed aloud.)
Astronomy: Written: E Practical: excused due to circumstances
Herbology: Written: O Practical: E ("What? An 'E'? You got bitten by that Venus Mantrap like twenty times!" said Ron, reading over his shoulder.)
Divination: Written: P Practical: D ("I got an 'A'… I think I'm going to take it with Firenze and everything," said Ron.)
Care of Magical Creatures: Written: A Practical: E
Defense against the Dark Arts: Written: O Practical: O++ ("No surprises there!")
History of Magic: Exam: T ("Yeah," said Harry defensively as Ron and Ginny tried to keep themselves from falling over with laughter, "well, I had a vision of Sirius being tortured! What could I have done?")
Career Selection: Auror – Classes to Continue: Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts
"I can only drop two classes?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Hey, do you guys have a copy of the Prophet by any chance, I cancelled my subscription."
"Yeah," Ginny said, handing over a newspaper. "There's an article about Dad's office on the last page."
Harry flipped to the last page and began to read.
Disreputable Muggle Shops Trade Magical Items
LONDON – Recently, the employees of the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department, Mr. Arthur Weasley and Mr. William Perkins have discovered a crime ring of muggles who trade enchanted artifacts. They have been doing so for almost three years now. Some of the enchanted items included self-cleaning dishes and anti-mosquito charms. All of the items have been found, except for a small silver key that opens an unknown lock that was lost a little more than a year ago. A reward of $500 has been set by the ministry for anyone who finds the key.
"Cool. But why do they want the key that much?"
"I have no idea… Dumbledore set the reward, not Dad's office."
"Yeah, but most real news is on the last few pages. They mostly have specials on you and Dumbledore. And, of course, there's been a lot of talk about you-know-who lately. The Ministry's been trying to locate him. There have been a couple of mysterious disappearances so far, but there's no correlation."
"Or so the Prophet says," muttered Mr. Weasley darkly.
"Oh, Dad's just a little paranoid," Ginny said.
"You don't need to be scaring Harry with all that conspiracy theory nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley said.
Harry, however, was more than interested, as was Sarah. Ron had a skeptical, but not dismissive, look on his face.
"So, what do you think?"
"I think that, although the ministry openly admits to You-Know-Who's return, they don't want to act on it. They're even cutting off alliances with other countries. Members of the senate, not the least of which is Lucius Malfoy, are more than happy to support the Dark Lord. The ministry is refusing to take any action. And Dumbledore's supporting this policy! I think Dumbledore is in on it somehow."
He was being very vague, and Harry could see he was hiding something.
"What," Harry asked, "like he's actually a Death Eater?"
"No, I think Lucius and some other Death Eaters either bribed him or threatened him… or maybe he's even under the Imperius curse."
"No one's strong enough to put that curse on Dumbledore… And Dumbledore could easily resist it."
"Well… Dumbledore's getting old. And, maybe it's just me, but every time I see him he looks weaker. I believe something is sapping his power."
Harry found it difficult to believe that Dumbledore was in any way supporting Voldemort, but he did see that Mr. Weasley had a point. The ministry should not have been cutting off alliances at a time like this. And Dumbledore, who was back in favor, should have been doing something about it.
"Hey, I thought Lucius Malfoy was in prison…" Ron said suddenly.
"Well," Mr. Weasley said darkly, "he got off by claiming he was under the Imperius curse. It worked last time, too."
As Harry was lost in his thoughts, Annette walked in in a faded blue dress of Ginny's and a towel wrapped around her head. Harry noticed that without the dirt, she looked quite beautiful. She looked at Harry and smiled, and Harry, starting to feel a blush coming on, smiled back, and turned back to the table. Mrs. Weasley brought them all out hot bowls of stew.
"Well, thank you!" Harry said, finishing up his last bite. "I'll be in Ron's room?"
"Yup, and you'd better get some sleep because tomorrow we're visiting Diagon Alley. Sarah and Annette, why don't you two use the twins' old room?"
"Sure, thank you," said Annette earnestly.
Full and happy, Ron and Harry plodded up the stairs and into Ron's room. Three walls were still painted bright orange, but one wall was now lime green.
"A change of décor?" asked Harry.
"Well, sort of. Fred and George came and visited for a bit and tried out one of their new inventions, the Color Switcher. It changes the color of everything in a short radius for about an hour, except it didn't work out right. After the hour was up, my wall and Dad's hair didn't change back."
"Really? What color was his hair?"
"White with purple polka dots. The twin had a good laugh, and then dad tried muggle dye. He washed it out to quickly, so his hair was sort of grey-white. It made him look old, except for the purple spots. He had to try three other brands of dye and some other colors before he finally let us change it back with magic."
"Why didn't you change your wall back?"
"Well, I kind of like it this way. Normally, Mum would never allow it, but since the twins did it she blames them."
"Oh, cool."
Just then, the lights throughout the house turned off, and Harry crawled into bed. He was glad to be back in the Burrow, spending the night with people he knew and cared for.
He woke up in the dead of night. There was some movement and whispering. He felt something warm brush against his cheek. Then he fell right back to sleep.
When he awoke the next morning, there was a note under his pillow. He unfolded it. There was a message scrawled in sloppy writing across it.
I love you.
Annette
He was jolted into wakefulness immediately. He read it a few more times to make absolutely certain of what it said. Then, he walked out determinedly up the rickety stairs and looked into the twins' old room. Sure enough, Sarah and Annette were gone, leaving behind no traces except for the note. Harry wandered back down the stairs, took a shower, and put on some new clothes. He put the note in his pocket for safe keeping, and went down to breakfast. Ron, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already pecking at toast, jam, cereal and eggs.
"Help yourself," said Mrs. Weasley, pointing to the food.
"Thanks," Harry said dreamily, thinking about the note.
It wasn't like he didn't like Annette, but did he like her in that way? Did it matter? Would he ever see her again or was she gone for good? Could Hedwig find her? But, even if she could, could they have a relationship through the mail? Harry's mind was too full of questions, and not filled enough with answers.
He was pulled out of his thoughts but a tapping at the window. Errol, the Weasley family owl, was struggling with a large envelope tied to his leg. Mrs. Weasley opened the window, and he collapsed on the table. Ginny sighed and got up to get him some water.
"Those must be your Hogwarts letters!"
"Yeah, Mum, we know."
Ron tore open the package, and sure enough there were four letters with the Hogwarts seal on them.
"The fourth one must be for Hermione," said Mr. Weasley.
Nodding, Harry unfolded his and read.
Sixth year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six
Summoning For Dummies
Seeing Is Not Always Believing
"Wow, not too many new ones this year."
"What's Summoning?" Harry asked.
"It's a branch of Transfiguration, where a witch or wizard can create things out of thin air," Ron said. "It's extremely difficult and time-consuming, but most witches and wizards find it quite useful. What I'm wondering about, though, is this Seeing is not Believing. Do you think that's for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"It's got to be, unless Firenze is going to use that for divination."
"Who do you think our new teacher will be?" piped in Ginny.
"I don't know, but I heard it's a rather paranoid man," said Mr. Weasley.
"Not another professor Moody?"
"No, someone completely different. I heard he's paranoid in a different way. Keeps talking about conspiracy theories and what not. And some people say he's not entirely human."
"Wow, well it sounds like a good change from Professor Umbrige."
They all nodded in assent and laughed.
"Well, ready to go to Diagon Alley?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Yup."
"Then let's hit the fireplace!"