Harry Potter and the Fountain of Magical Brethren

Chapter 3: Unwelcome Guests

            As soon as Harry entered the kitchen, he felt himself being hugged tightly by Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.  Ron then patted him on the back and Fred, George, Bill and Charlie shook his hands vivaciously.

            "How are you doing, Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley, who had bags under his eyes, Harry assumed, from not only hours at the Ministry but also a great deal of work for the Order.

            "Alright, thanks," replied Harry automatically, though they could all tell that it wasn't quite true.  After a few seconds of silence, Hermione spoke up, and Harry began to wonder if she had taken a Babbling Tablet herself.

            "Oh Harry have you gotten your OWLs yet?  Mine just came yesterday, and I'm ever so pleased.  I got Outstanding on everything except Astronomy; I was really upset at first but I sent an owl to Professor McGonagall asking her if it would harm my chances of having a proper career and she assured me that it wasn't my fault.  Ron and I have barely talked about anything else since I got here this morning.  It's so exciting, isn't it!?"

            At this, Ron rolled his eyes behind Hermione's back, and Harry was sure that she had been quite truthful about the fact that they had talked of nothing else.

            "I got all Outstanding, actually," Harry said with a smirk.  "I was quite surprised."

            "WHAT???  But I studied so hard and you barely- I mean, that's wonderful, Harry…" she spluttered.

            "Only joking, Hermione.  Actually, I got 6- Dreadful in History of Magic and Divination, of course."

            Ron high fived him, and upon showing Harry his scores, Harry saw that they had almost identical results, the only difference being that while Ron had eeked by with an Acceptable in History of Magic, he had been unable to escape a Poor in Potions.  Ron did not seem too upset about this, though; on the contrary, he seemed rather relieved that he would not have to stand another year of classes in Snape's repulsive dungeons.

            Suddenly, Harry heard some creaking footsteps on the stairs, and was startled for a second until he saw Ginny bouncing into the kitchen.

            "Hey, Harry!" she exclaimed upon seeing him.

            Harry was happy to see no sign of the meek, blushing Ginny that he had known on previous visits to the Burrow. He greeted her cheerfully, and was glad that he could now count her among his close friends.

            Harry brought his school things upstairs to Ron's room, and then chatted amiably with Ron, Fred, George, Hermione and Ginny until Mrs. Weasley called up to them that dinner was ready.  The dinner was a chaotic affair, as it included the Weasley clan (excluding Percy), Harry, Hermione, Lupin, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Sturgis Podmore.  Upon seeing Podmore, Harry hushedly inquired to Remus, who was seated on his left, when Podmore had been released from Azkaban.

            "A few weeks ago, Dumbledore convinced Fudge that Sturgis was innocent and on our side, and Fudge finally pardoned him," Remus whispered back.

Harry noticed that Podmore was sitting at his own little corner of the table.  He looked distant, and Harry did not blame him.  He shivered at the thought of spending even a moment with the dememtors, let alone the months that Sturgis Podmore had endured.

            "So how's the joke shop going?" Harry asked the twins, who sat across the table, stuffing their mouths, with turkey and whispering animatedly to each other, glancing at a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table.  Harry made a mental note not to lay a finger on the potatoes, for fear that the twins were using them to test a new product.

            "It's going really well," said George, grinning.

            "Yeah, just this morning we got the idea for this potion that makes you blast out whatever song's stuck in your head," Fred added with another quick glance at the mashed potatoes.

            After helping himself to everything on the table but the mashed potatoes, and complimenting Mrs. Weasley on her cooking, Harry leaned back and fixed his attention on the conversation that was occurring on his right.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie were talking about the situation with Percy.  Harry angrily remembered the previous summer when Percy had denounced his own family in favor of the Ministry.

            "I think we should at least let him know about the Order and give him the option of joining," Mrs. Weasley was saying.

            "Maybe in time," said Mr. Weasley uncomfortably, "but we've only just really started talking to him again.  We still don't know who he's reporting back to."

            "Yeah, it's not like the Ministry is working against us anymore, but it would be terrible if they found out about the Order- especially since we know there are spies in the Ministry," Charlie voiced.

            "True," Mr. Weasley spoke again, "admitting that You-Know-Who is back was a step, but ever since then they've barely done anything."

            "Plus, honestly, I want as little to do with that git as possible," said Bill angrily.

            Harry knew better than to ask them what exactly was going on in the heat of this conversation, but he decided that he would ask Ron about these things later.

            Suddenly, Ron burst out singing the Hogwarts school song to a slow, bluesy ballad.  Everyone at the table laughed confusedly, and Harry saw Fred and George wink at him from across the table.  Half of the people now got up and scraped their mashed potatoes into the sink on the other side of the room.

            Moody, who was looking up through the ceiling with his magical eye, grunted, "I see you've got yourself a ghoul in the attic."

            "Oh yes, it's been there for ages," replied Mrs. Wseasley.  "There's just no way to get rid of it."

            "Hey, so what's the difference between a ghoul and a ghost anyway?" Ginny inquired.  "I've been meaning to ask Nearly Neadless Nick, but I always forget."

            "Well, be glad you didn't mention it to him, because ghosts don't like to be associated with ghouls.  Ghouls have a much more violent personality- that's the main difference, Ginny.  Usually long ago they were responsible for grave robberies."

            "Generally only the more cowardly ones become ghosts anyway," spoke up Sturgis quietly for the first time since Harry had seen him.  "My great-uncle Patrick Delaney-Podmore was beheaded by accident during a practice duel.  He cakme back and now he's always showing off, but I know he regrets having chosen to stay here on earth."

In the moment of silence following Sturgis's pronouncement, Harry thought about how he had hoped last year that Sirius might become a ghost.  He realized now that it was probably for the best that he hadn't, although Harry would have give anything to talk to Sirius once more.  He was driven out of his reverie by a loud crash in the adjacent room followed by a crack.  Everybody was startled and all those in the Order jumped to their feet, wands clutched tightly in their hands. 

"Children, stay right where you are," Mrs. Weasley said frantically.  "We have to go find out what that was."

As those in the Order (including Fred and George, which slightly surprised Harry) filed stealthily into the living room, Harry Ron, Hermione, and Ginny pressed their ears to the door.  They heard Tonks say quietly, "Whoever it was must have apparated.  This is serious."  The four in the kitchen exchanged meaningful glances.  Someone had been in the house.