Fall of the Weasleys
And in no time at all, they stood in the large, rather cluttered kitchen of The Burrow, home to eight of the Weasleys (excluding Percy), Harry's favourite family in the world. Pigwidgeon, whom Bill had held to Apparate, now flitted excitedly around the spacious room, coming to land on the back of one of the many chairs surrounding the well-used family table, joining a large, white, fluff-ball which gave an indignant hoot. "Hedwig!" said Harry. The beautiful snowy owl fluffed her feathers in fond welcome. But Harry stopped himself from setting out to find Ron; it was much too quiet. Not one anguished yell from Mrs Weasley at her twin sons, Fred and George. Not one explosion from the twins' room. Bill frowned. "Mum?" he yelled. But he received no answer. The only sound that answered was the loud clicking and ticking of the unusual grandfather clock which sat beside the table. The clock did not tell time but it instead had a hand for each of the family members: Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Ron, the only other girl in the family Ginny and the long lost son, Percy. These hands pointed to the various positions and well- being of everyone: work, school, home, mortal danger and death. But every single hand pointed to work except for Bills name. Bill noticed this and groaned. "Something must be happening at the Ministry," he sighed, "Leave your stuff here, Harry, and come on. We'll go there by Floo," Harry followed him through an archway into a long, bare room. Infront of them was a very large fire, completely bare except for the little golden pot filled with emerald green dust. Bill grabbed a handful; so did Harry. "Do you know how to.?" Bill nodded toward the fireplace. Harry nodded. He knew how to travel by Floo Powder well enough. Bill grinned, "Right then. Just say "Misuse of Muggle Artefacts" nice 'n' clear," he finished, ushering Harry into the fireplace. Harry said to Bill, "See you there!" then threw his handful of powder at his feet, yelling at the same time, "Misuse of Muggle Artefacts!" He was immediately engulfed by an emerald fire. He felt remarkably cool within that fire, spinning around and around, his elbows tucked in so they wouldn't hit off the sides of the chimney chute. But it was soon over, and Harry had shot out of another fireplace. Straight into a very angry red-headed crowd of people. "Harry!" flustered a familiar voice. Harry was helped to his feet by Ron. He was a head taller than Harry, maybe more, and a bit broader on the shoulders than the last time Harry had seen him, but the freckles, gangly- ness and mop of flaming-red hair that was Ron was the same as they ever were. Harry grinned fondly at his friend, and then it faltered as Ron was not grinning back. Infact, the tops of Ron's ears were almost as red as his hair and his voice was hoarse as if he had been shouting when he said, "Bill, you shouldn't've come! Mum's-" "RON!" Harry jumped, startled by Mrs Weasleys anger. She was scarlet in the face; her hair was all over the place, her plump figure made her look ominous now and tears rolled down her cheeks. Ron shied away from his mother, his height making no war against her immense anger. Harry looked about him and saw that every single Weasley stood there, everyone but Ginny standing in a very tight, very tense, very angry bunch, Percy and Mr Weasley in the centre, sparks almost flying between them. Ginny stood trembling in a far corner of Mr Weasleys office. Bill stood at the fireplace, a look of complete unknowing on his face. Charlie, who had numerous scars and burns from training dragons in Romania, stood behind his father with a hand on Mr Weasleys shoulder, as if to hold him back. Fred and George, who, to Harrys great surprise, wore very expensive looking robes, flanked Charlie at either side, arms folded across their surprisingly broad chests, their faces like thunder. It was a very uncomfortable silence through which Harry studied the Weasleys but it was broken by Mr Weasley or someone that looked like him but did not sound like the kindly, easily fascinated Arthur Weasley that Harry knew. No, it was as if someone nasty and not at all good-natured had pocessed him. "Bill," he growled, his eyes not leaving Percy for a moment, "Take everyone home to The Burrow. DON'T ARGUE!" he bellowed, as everyone except Ginny began to protest. They were immediately silent. Mr Weasley sighed and said, more kindly, "This is something you can't help with. Go home and get some breakfast." Fred opened his mouth to protest but the much stockier Charlie took his hand off his dads shoulder and steered the twins towards the fireplace where they each took a handful of Floo Powder, threw it roughly at the hearth, yelled "The Burrow!" and were gone. Harry said nothing. This was not his business and he still said nothing when Ginny burst into painful tears when he went to get her at Bills gesture. Harry went through after Ron and before Bill and when he landed awkwardly at the other side in The Burrow, he found the kitchen empty but for Ron and a sobbing mess that was Ginny. Bill came in behind him, gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and headed outside. Harry stared after him then went over to Ron at the large sink, who was throwing cold water over his face. Harry tried to say something but Ron beat him to it. "It's all going wrong, Harry," he said quietly, glaring angrily at the dishcloth as though it were something vile, "Everything!" Harry frowned. "Surely it's not that bad, Ron. You sounded as if everything was fine in your letter," he said. Ron nodded, looking at Harry. "Yeah, everything was fine, mate. Two days ago. Fred and George have set up a joke shop near Honeydukes in Hogsmeade, and everyone wants their merchandise. You wouldn't believe the money, Harry! But yesterday Percy sent dad a letter saying he was formally dismissed. Fired. By his own son, Harry!" Ron spat angrily into the sink. Harry took this in with painful slowness. "Can Percy do that? How could he?" Harry said, anger and hatred rising in his throat. Percy had once called him crazy and unstable because of his scar and what the tabloids had caught wind of. Ron gave him a mirthless smile; Harry almost stepped back. Ron never gave smiles that had no laughter in them. "He can't, no. But he can persuade Cornelius Fudge to. You know dad's obsessed with Muggles. But Percy never really liked dads interest in them. I guess when dad tried to get Fudge to let some of the Muggles into the Ministry for studying, pushed Percy to far," Ron clenched his fists, "He called Dad a disgrace to wizards, said he was ashamed to have lower class- " Ron stopped. He was so furious that the words caught in his throat. Harry put a hand on his best-friends shoulder. Things were bad, really bad. Charlie stuck his head through the door; his face was smiling. "Ron, come on outside. Harry? Could you calm Ginny down, please? Thank you. Then you can come on out too," His head disappeared. Ron shook the water off his red face then stomped outside. Ginny, though still crying, wasn't shook by racking sobs now and Harry wrapped an arm about her shoulders and said, "Come on, Ginny. It'll all work out in the end; it always does, doesn't it?" Ginny nodded slowly under her arms. "Besides. Percy's a great big balloon, filled with hot air-especially his head- and if he causes anymore trouble, you can just deflate it for him," he continued. Ginny must have imagined something humorous, because when she lifted her head she was smiling mischievously. Then she said hoarsely, "That was a pretty pathetic attempt at cheering me up, Harry." Harry sighed but Ginny managed a grin, got up and tugged on his hand. "Come on!" she said, trying to be cheerful, "I smell sausages!"
* There were, indeed, sausages. And sugar cakes, fairy biscuits, sausage rolls, ham sandwiches, steaming hot vegetable soup and three bottles of Butterbeer at each place on a long wooden table. Harry fell to with zest. He was hungry; he had only two bites of sausage in the Dursleys. They ate in silence for a while then, the uncomfortable bit over, Fred and George entertained them with a new type of fake wand which did the exact opposite spell you asked it to and back-fired it on the holder. They held two wands out to Charlie, one was fake, one was his own and when he picked the wrong one he ended up with an extra head. "My, my," said the new head, staring at the original, "You are a handsome fellow!" Everyone laughed, even Ron. Harry had had his fifth Butterbeer, having raided the fridge for more, when light finally began to dim and the air began to cool. They moved inside and sat on comfy chintz arm-chairs, their feet up on the round coffee table. Fred and George, after changing out of their expensive robes, performed messy spells, again their own creations, then they too settled down to rest. Not one of them mentioned earlier events; not one wanted to and soon they were yawning and the talk had died. "Well," said Bill, yawning as he stood and put down his empty mug, "Best we all get to bed. How 'bout a friendly Quidditch match, tomorrow? Me, Charlie and.um, George onto Ron, Harry and Fred. Waddaya say?" "I'm up for it," yawned Fred, "Our team has a Firebolt!"
And in no time at all, they stood in the large, rather cluttered kitchen of The Burrow, home to eight of the Weasleys (excluding Percy), Harry's favourite family in the world. Pigwidgeon, whom Bill had held to Apparate, now flitted excitedly around the spacious room, coming to land on the back of one of the many chairs surrounding the well-used family table, joining a large, white, fluff-ball which gave an indignant hoot. "Hedwig!" said Harry. The beautiful snowy owl fluffed her feathers in fond welcome. But Harry stopped himself from setting out to find Ron; it was much too quiet. Not one anguished yell from Mrs Weasley at her twin sons, Fred and George. Not one explosion from the twins' room. Bill frowned. "Mum?" he yelled. But he received no answer. The only sound that answered was the loud clicking and ticking of the unusual grandfather clock which sat beside the table. The clock did not tell time but it instead had a hand for each of the family members: Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Ron, the only other girl in the family Ginny and the long lost son, Percy. These hands pointed to the various positions and well- being of everyone: work, school, home, mortal danger and death. But every single hand pointed to work except for Bills name. Bill noticed this and groaned. "Something must be happening at the Ministry," he sighed, "Leave your stuff here, Harry, and come on. We'll go there by Floo," Harry followed him through an archway into a long, bare room. Infront of them was a very large fire, completely bare except for the little golden pot filled with emerald green dust. Bill grabbed a handful; so did Harry. "Do you know how to.?" Bill nodded toward the fireplace. Harry nodded. He knew how to travel by Floo Powder well enough. Bill grinned, "Right then. Just say "Misuse of Muggle Artefacts" nice 'n' clear," he finished, ushering Harry into the fireplace. Harry said to Bill, "See you there!" then threw his handful of powder at his feet, yelling at the same time, "Misuse of Muggle Artefacts!" He was immediately engulfed by an emerald fire. He felt remarkably cool within that fire, spinning around and around, his elbows tucked in so they wouldn't hit off the sides of the chimney chute. But it was soon over, and Harry had shot out of another fireplace. Straight into a very angry red-headed crowd of people. "Harry!" flustered a familiar voice. Harry was helped to his feet by Ron. He was a head taller than Harry, maybe more, and a bit broader on the shoulders than the last time Harry had seen him, but the freckles, gangly- ness and mop of flaming-red hair that was Ron was the same as they ever were. Harry grinned fondly at his friend, and then it faltered as Ron was not grinning back. Infact, the tops of Ron's ears were almost as red as his hair and his voice was hoarse as if he had been shouting when he said, "Bill, you shouldn't've come! Mum's-" "RON!" Harry jumped, startled by Mrs Weasleys anger. She was scarlet in the face; her hair was all over the place, her plump figure made her look ominous now and tears rolled down her cheeks. Ron shied away from his mother, his height making no war against her immense anger. Harry looked about him and saw that every single Weasley stood there, everyone but Ginny standing in a very tight, very tense, very angry bunch, Percy and Mr Weasley in the centre, sparks almost flying between them. Ginny stood trembling in a far corner of Mr Weasleys office. Bill stood at the fireplace, a look of complete unknowing on his face. Charlie, who had numerous scars and burns from training dragons in Romania, stood behind his father with a hand on Mr Weasleys shoulder, as if to hold him back. Fred and George, who, to Harrys great surprise, wore very expensive looking robes, flanked Charlie at either side, arms folded across their surprisingly broad chests, their faces like thunder. It was a very uncomfortable silence through which Harry studied the Weasleys but it was broken by Mr Weasley or someone that looked like him but did not sound like the kindly, easily fascinated Arthur Weasley that Harry knew. No, it was as if someone nasty and not at all good-natured had pocessed him. "Bill," he growled, his eyes not leaving Percy for a moment, "Take everyone home to The Burrow. DON'T ARGUE!" he bellowed, as everyone except Ginny began to protest. They were immediately silent. Mr Weasley sighed and said, more kindly, "This is something you can't help with. Go home and get some breakfast." Fred opened his mouth to protest but the much stockier Charlie took his hand off his dads shoulder and steered the twins towards the fireplace where they each took a handful of Floo Powder, threw it roughly at the hearth, yelled "The Burrow!" and were gone. Harry said nothing. This was not his business and he still said nothing when Ginny burst into painful tears when he went to get her at Bills gesture. Harry went through after Ron and before Bill and when he landed awkwardly at the other side in The Burrow, he found the kitchen empty but for Ron and a sobbing mess that was Ginny. Bill came in behind him, gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and headed outside. Harry stared after him then went over to Ron at the large sink, who was throwing cold water over his face. Harry tried to say something but Ron beat him to it. "It's all going wrong, Harry," he said quietly, glaring angrily at the dishcloth as though it were something vile, "Everything!" Harry frowned. "Surely it's not that bad, Ron. You sounded as if everything was fine in your letter," he said. Ron nodded, looking at Harry. "Yeah, everything was fine, mate. Two days ago. Fred and George have set up a joke shop near Honeydukes in Hogsmeade, and everyone wants their merchandise. You wouldn't believe the money, Harry! But yesterday Percy sent dad a letter saying he was formally dismissed. Fired. By his own son, Harry!" Ron spat angrily into the sink. Harry took this in with painful slowness. "Can Percy do that? How could he?" Harry said, anger and hatred rising in his throat. Percy had once called him crazy and unstable because of his scar and what the tabloids had caught wind of. Ron gave him a mirthless smile; Harry almost stepped back. Ron never gave smiles that had no laughter in them. "He can't, no. But he can persuade Cornelius Fudge to. You know dad's obsessed with Muggles. But Percy never really liked dads interest in them. I guess when dad tried to get Fudge to let some of the Muggles into the Ministry for studying, pushed Percy to far," Ron clenched his fists, "He called Dad a disgrace to wizards, said he was ashamed to have lower class- " Ron stopped. He was so furious that the words caught in his throat. Harry put a hand on his best-friends shoulder. Things were bad, really bad. Charlie stuck his head through the door; his face was smiling. "Ron, come on outside. Harry? Could you calm Ginny down, please? Thank you. Then you can come on out too," His head disappeared. Ron shook the water off his red face then stomped outside. Ginny, though still crying, wasn't shook by racking sobs now and Harry wrapped an arm about her shoulders and said, "Come on, Ginny. It'll all work out in the end; it always does, doesn't it?" Ginny nodded slowly under her arms. "Besides. Percy's a great big balloon, filled with hot air-especially his head- and if he causes anymore trouble, you can just deflate it for him," he continued. Ginny must have imagined something humorous, because when she lifted her head she was smiling mischievously. Then she said hoarsely, "That was a pretty pathetic attempt at cheering me up, Harry." Harry sighed but Ginny managed a grin, got up and tugged on his hand. "Come on!" she said, trying to be cheerful, "I smell sausages!"
* There were, indeed, sausages. And sugar cakes, fairy biscuits, sausage rolls, ham sandwiches, steaming hot vegetable soup and three bottles of Butterbeer at each place on a long wooden table. Harry fell to with zest. He was hungry; he had only two bites of sausage in the Dursleys. They ate in silence for a while then, the uncomfortable bit over, Fred and George entertained them with a new type of fake wand which did the exact opposite spell you asked it to and back-fired it on the holder. They held two wands out to Charlie, one was fake, one was his own and when he picked the wrong one he ended up with an extra head. "My, my," said the new head, staring at the original, "You are a handsome fellow!" Everyone laughed, even Ron. Harry had had his fifth Butterbeer, having raided the fridge for more, when light finally began to dim and the air began to cool. They moved inside and sat on comfy chintz arm-chairs, their feet up on the round coffee table. Fred and George, after changing out of their expensive robes, performed messy spells, again their own creations, then they too settled down to rest. Not one of them mentioned earlier events; not one wanted to and soon they were yawning and the talk had died. "Well," said Bill, yawning as he stood and put down his empty mug, "Best we all get to bed. How 'bout a friendly Quidditch match, tomorrow? Me, Charlie and.um, George onto Ron, Harry and Fred. Waddaya say?" "I'm up for it," yawned Fred, "Our team has a Firebolt!"