Chapter Four- Hermione's News
The Quidditch practice went fairly well for Harry and Ron. Ron obviously was better at being keeper. He hadn't dropped a single goal Harry threw at him. It was amazing to Harry that Ron had practiced so much. It wasn't like him to really practice anything. After the practice, Mrs. Weasley called them down for lunch in the garden, which was a very unusual affair because there was only five people at the garden table: Percy, Ron, Harry, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.
The Yard however was not empty. Hedwig often glided down, chasing after the gnomes that ran around the yard laughing and giggling. The sun still shone brightly and provided its usual summer heat. Mrs. Weasley had cooked a delicious lunch; Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and for dessert, Yorkshire pudding. Finally, Percy broke the silence.
"What do you think Fudge is having dad do mum?"
Mrs. Weasley looked up, and Harry could see she was trying not to talk about something in front of him, but she answered anyway.
"I don't entirely know, but I'm guessing it has to do with You-Know-Who returning. I mean, Fudge didn't believe it for an entire year you know"
"Yeah, I know. He was going on and on at the office about how I'm the only one who has sense enough to believe that You-Know-Who isn't back"
Mrs. Weasley's eyebrows quickly raised. "He said that, did he?" she asked, showing signs of a temper rising.
Percy nodded, and then turned to Harry. "But, we've got Harry to thank, you know"
Harry smiled slightly.
"But lets not speak of the events of that horrible night" Mrs. Weasley said Quickly, as she waved her wand, and the dishes began to glide into the kitchen.
"Mum, when is Hermione arriving?" Ginny asked, as she watched her plate leave the table.
Mrs. Weasley glanced at her watch and said "In a little bit dear"
Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley's attitude had suddenly changed a bit. Perhaps it was because the news that Percy had told her, but Harry thought he should talk to her. As Mrs. Weasley walked into the house, Harry stood up.
"Where are you going? I want to get a bit more practice before Hermione arrives" Ron called, standing up.
"I've.er.I've got to use the bathroom" Harry lied.
"Okay. Well, hurry it up!"
Harry walked into the kitchen and the minute he did, he heard the faint noise of someone crying and he instantly knew it was Mrs. Weasley. She was standing over the sink, leaning against it and crying. Her hands were clutching the edge of the sink as though she was going to fall over and collapse.
"Mrs. Weasley?" said Harry quietly, as he started walking towards her.
She quickly looked up at him, trying to wipe her tears away before he could see them. "Harry!" she said, alarmed.
"Mrs. Weasley, are you alright?"
"Oh.I'm fine.I was just-"
"Mrs. Weasley" said Harry. "I know why you were crying"
She stared at him, he eyes still watering. Harry didn't move from where he stood. ".It's just, Author works so hard at the Ministry, and its taken them over a year to believe what Dumbledore and he had been saying about You-Know-Who. And I'm just scared.because he was attacked last year, and I don't want it to happen again" she said, her voice sounding squeaky. She reminded Harry vividly of Dobby.
Harry walked to her. "That's understandable," he said, as he put his hand on hers, trying to comfort her the best way he could. This is what she had done the night of the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, after some horrible events. "But, it's not in our control anymore. Mr. Weasley will do the best he can to prevent Volder-You-know-who from doing the things he'd done before" Harry said, looking into her eyes.
Mrs. Weasley stared back, and perhaps, it was at this point that Harry had seen something in her. He had seen something he'd saw and felt before. He felt that motherly connection with her. Harry could never remember his mother ever holding him, but whenever Mrs. Weasley had ever hugged him or held him (which she did after the Triwizard Tournament), he felt like it was his mother, Lily Potter hugging him.
Mrs. Weasley stepped forward, and hugged him tightly, and whispered "Thank You" into his ear. Their bliss was interrupted when someone's voice rang out from the fireplace.
"Molly! Molly, come quick!" said the familiar voice. Harry turned and saw Amos Diggory's head sitting in the fire. His eyes were wide and lively, but they looked as though he had just seen a ghost (which wasn't surprising to Harry, having seen all the Hogwarts Ghost and that of Cedric and Myrtle as well).
Mrs. Weasley let Harry go and headed toward the fire. "What is it?"
"Its-" he said, and he caught sight of Harry. "Hello Harry" he called, hiding the fear in his voice. He sounded calm, and friendly.
"Hello Mr. Diggory"
"Amos, what's the matter?"
"Harry, could you just give us a moment alone?" asked Amos Diggory.
"Sure" said Harry, as he walked back outside into the backyard, leaving Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Weasley alone.
Ron was already in the air on his broomstick, closely tailed by Ginny, who had just chucked a Quaffle at his head. She looked angry.
"Watch where you're throwing this!" Ron yelled.
"You need to stop acting like you're a star!" Ginny snapped.
"Well, I'm sorry if you're upset that you cant catch a Quaffle" Ron hissed.
"I CAN SO CATCH!" Ginny shouted.
"You two need to stop! I'm doing a bit of work, and I can't concentrate with your shouting and bickering" called Percy. He was sitting at the now cleared Garden Table, which was now littered with the Parchment and Quills that were in his room. He was doing some Ministry work.
Ron looked at him, "Go to your room then!" he yelled.
Percy looked up at him. "Don't make me hurt you!"
"I'd like to see you try, Mr. Clearwater" sneered Ron. He was making fun of Percy. Percy's eyes flared up, and he took out his wand, and muttered "Rictusempra", as a bright yellow light zoomed at Ron, causing him to fall off his broom, and begin laughing uncontrollably.
He managed to take out his wand, and he shrieked "Tarantallegra". A flash of Blue light hit Percy and his legs began to dance out of control.
It was funny, from Harry's view watching two brothers duel. Ginny was laughing so loud, it caused Mrs. Weasley to emerge into the garden.
"What in Merlin's beard is going-WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!" she shrieked, as she saw both Ron and Percy's wands out and pointing at one another. "PERCY! YOU KNOW HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO DO MAGIC AWAY FROM SCHOOL!!"
At this point, it didn't matter, because Percy and Ron still glared at each other, one laughing, and one dancing.
"Finite" said Mrs. Weasley, on both of them, and their spells were gone.
"They'll be sending an owl any moment now, giving your brother a warning" said Mrs. Weasley.
"He started it"
"NO I DIDN'T!" yelled Percy.
"ENOUGH!"
Mrs. Weasley wasn't kidding. "Accio Wands" she said, as Both Percy and Ron's wands soared to her. "You'll get these back at the end of the summer!" she said, and stalked back inside the house, slamming the door. Harry guessed she was still talking to Mr. Diggory.
The garden seemed momentarily frozen at the moment. It was as though someone froze everyone; Ginny was no longer laughing but looked as though she might faint; Ron's jaw was hanging open; Percy looked as though he were petrified.
Suddenly, the sound of a car was heard from the driveway. A Red Van (that reminded Harry of Uncle Vernon's Van) was pulling into the driveway. Once it had stopped, a side door opened, and Hermione walked out of it, as her parents did too.
Hermione had long bushy hair, and brown eyes. She was the same height as Harry (or so it seemed from where she was). She was wearing a Red-skirt, with a Red Blouse.
Her mother and father were Muggles but took Hermione's magical training very seriously. They deeply cared for her as well. Hermione and her parents gathered Hermione's luggage from the back of the van, and began to walk over to everyone.
"Hello there" called Mr. Granger.
"Hi" said Ginny, rushing to hug Hermione.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Mrs. Granger as she looked at Percy and Ron's faces.
"Er.yeah. Everything's ok" said Harry.
"Okay. Well, dear, we've got to get back home. Here's some extra gold, and we hope you have a good year" said Mr. Granger as he bent down and handed Hermione a bag of gold, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Have fun," said Mrs. Granger, as she too kissed Hermione on the cheek. She turned to the others. "Have a great year everyone!"
Mr. and Mrs. Granger retreated back to their van, got in, and drove off, waving at Hermione until they disappeared.
Hermione was staring at Percy, with a look of satisfaction and admiring.
Ron looked at Percy, and then looked at Hermione and said "I'm over here you know!"
Her gaze quickly broke off, and she looked at Ron. "Oh.Hi"
Ginny and Harry grinned, as Percy now walked back to his table, and continued working.
"Oh! Before I forget, I have to talk to all of you" said Hermione quickly, as she dropped her luggage. She dragged, Ron and Harry to another side of the house, as Ginny followed at their heels. Hermione quickly glanced around making sure they couldn't be overheard, and then she directed her attention to Ron, Harry and Ginny.
"What's this all about?" asked Ron. "I'm about to tell you!" Hermione snapped. She lowered her voice a little. "Okay, have any of you been watching the Daily Prophet?"
All three of them shook their heads.
"Well, there were a bunch of articles in there about Voldermort" she continued. Both Ron and Ginny winced at the sound of the name.
"What were they about?" Harry asked.
"He's got the Dementors on his side. It was rumored that Azkaban is no longer run by them, and that there were a bunch of killings 2 days ago," said Hermione. She began to speak a little lower, fearing that someone could hear her. "Fudge said that Azkaban is now run by highly qualified witches and wizards, but he reckons that the public should brace themselves. Then, the Daily Prophet reported that the Ministry had a bunch of trials, sentencing the death eaters that were captured in June, and guess who was sentenced to 6 terms?"
Ron, Harry and Ginny looked at one another, and then looked at Hermione and shrugged.
"Draco's dad!"
"WHAT?"
"Yeah. Fudge was disgusted with him, and threw 6 terms at him. I guess it was because he really trusted Malfoy's dad. And I'm sure you heard about your dad" said Hermione, as she looked at Ginny and Ron.
Both of them looked utterly confused.
"What?" asked Ron.
Hermione stared blankly. "You mean, your dad hasn't told you anything?"
"No. He hasn't been home a lot since the start of the holiday's"
"What's the Daily Prophet said about him?" asked Ginny.
"He's become Assistant Minister of Magic"
Harry thought someone turned the volume up to more than loud. It was as though sets of Filibuster Fireworks were set off, and exploded like Dynamite.
"WHAT?" shrieked Ginny.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" shouted Ron.
"Shut up! Not so loud!" said Hermione. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cut out piece of article from the Daily Prophet.
Ron snatched it from her, as Harry and Ginny bent over his shoulder, trying to read it.
New Assistant Minister of Magic
Arthur Weasley
The Daily Prophet has unearthed startling news of Arthur Weasley being
chosen as Cornelius Fudge's new assistant Minister of Magic. Special Correspondent, Rita Skeeter was given permission to interview the new Assistant Minister of Magic, and I must say, the interview went very
well.
"I was extremely excited about the news when I received it"
Said the over-joyed Assistant.
When asked how his family felt about the news, the conversation
Suddenly turned on an upside-down note. "I haven't told them yet. I am quite afraid to do it, because of what they
might say" he responded. However, we decided not to deepen in on the personal matters, and we asked him how did he feel about his new duties as
Assistant Minister of Magic. "I feel as though I can handle it fairly well. I have been hoping for this
moment for many years and I wasn't sure it was going to happen"
As our readers and the rest of the magic world know, Arthur previously worked in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, where he enjoyed his job, but is feeling even better about having become assistant minister.
The Ministry of Magic has also given control of Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry back to its re-instated headmaster, Albus
Dumbledore as reported several days ago. Everyone wishes the Ministry well, and hope that they will be diving into tactics on how to stop He-who-must-not-be-named who is active once more,
and even more dangerous than he was over sixteen years ago.
The article was written the day after Harry arrived back at privet drive.
"This is great news!" said Harry, smiling.
"I know, but I wonder why dad hasn't told us yet?" said Ginny, as she stared at the moving picture of her father.
Ron gave a look of wonder too. Harry couldn't help but thinking the same thing. Why hadn't Mr. Weasley said anything to his family? It was very weird even to Harry that someone like Mr. Weasley wouldn't let his family in on such good news. Perhaps it was because of Percy's ordeal last year, but then Harry erased that from his mind, because he was only siding with Fudge because of his title as Junior Assistant.
Harry then thought that maybe the Department that sends warnings to any Hogwarts Student who uses magic away from school had taken it into their hearts to excuse Ron's use of magic earlier. Harry agreed with that thought in his brain because the moment Dobby had used a Hover Charm four years ago, an Owl soared in the house with the warning about using magic away from school. But still, Harry had to abandon that, and return to his first thought. He asked himself
"Why hadn't Mr. Weasley told his family the good news?"
The Quidditch practice went fairly well for Harry and Ron. Ron obviously was better at being keeper. He hadn't dropped a single goal Harry threw at him. It was amazing to Harry that Ron had practiced so much. It wasn't like him to really practice anything. After the practice, Mrs. Weasley called them down for lunch in the garden, which was a very unusual affair because there was only five people at the garden table: Percy, Ron, Harry, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.
The Yard however was not empty. Hedwig often glided down, chasing after the gnomes that ran around the yard laughing and giggling. The sun still shone brightly and provided its usual summer heat. Mrs. Weasley had cooked a delicious lunch; Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and for dessert, Yorkshire pudding. Finally, Percy broke the silence.
"What do you think Fudge is having dad do mum?"
Mrs. Weasley looked up, and Harry could see she was trying not to talk about something in front of him, but she answered anyway.
"I don't entirely know, but I'm guessing it has to do with You-Know-Who returning. I mean, Fudge didn't believe it for an entire year you know"
"Yeah, I know. He was going on and on at the office about how I'm the only one who has sense enough to believe that You-Know-Who isn't back"
Mrs. Weasley's eyebrows quickly raised. "He said that, did he?" she asked, showing signs of a temper rising.
Percy nodded, and then turned to Harry. "But, we've got Harry to thank, you know"
Harry smiled slightly.
"But lets not speak of the events of that horrible night" Mrs. Weasley said Quickly, as she waved her wand, and the dishes began to glide into the kitchen.
"Mum, when is Hermione arriving?" Ginny asked, as she watched her plate leave the table.
Mrs. Weasley glanced at her watch and said "In a little bit dear"
Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley's attitude had suddenly changed a bit. Perhaps it was because the news that Percy had told her, but Harry thought he should talk to her. As Mrs. Weasley walked into the house, Harry stood up.
"Where are you going? I want to get a bit more practice before Hermione arrives" Ron called, standing up.
"I've.er.I've got to use the bathroom" Harry lied.
"Okay. Well, hurry it up!"
Harry walked into the kitchen and the minute he did, he heard the faint noise of someone crying and he instantly knew it was Mrs. Weasley. She was standing over the sink, leaning against it and crying. Her hands were clutching the edge of the sink as though she was going to fall over and collapse.
"Mrs. Weasley?" said Harry quietly, as he started walking towards her.
She quickly looked up at him, trying to wipe her tears away before he could see them. "Harry!" she said, alarmed.
"Mrs. Weasley, are you alright?"
"Oh.I'm fine.I was just-"
"Mrs. Weasley" said Harry. "I know why you were crying"
She stared at him, he eyes still watering. Harry didn't move from where he stood. ".It's just, Author works so hard at the Ministry, and its taken them over a year to believe what Dumbledore and he had been saying about You-Know-Who. And I'm just scared.because he was attacked last year, and I don't want it to happen again" she said, her voice sounding squeaky. She reminded Harry vividly of Dobby.
Harry walked to her. "That's understandable," he said, as he put his hand on hers, trying to comfort her the best way he could. This is what she had done the night of the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, after some horrible events. "But, it's not in our control anymore. Mr. Weasley will do the best he can to prevent Volder-You-know-who from doing the things he'd done before" Harry said, looking into her eyes.
Mrs. Weasley stared back, and perhaps, it was at this point that Harry had seen something in her. He had seen something he'd saw and felt before. He felt that motherly connection with her. Harry could never remember his mother ever holding him, but whenever Mrs. Weasley had ever hugged him or held him (which she did after the Triwizard Tournament), he felt like it was his mother, Lily Potter hugging him.
Mrs. Weasley stepped forward, and hugged him tightly, and whispered "Thank You" into his ear. Their bliss was interrupted when someone's voice rang out from the fireplace.
"Molly! Molly, come quick!" said the familiar voice. Harry turned and saw Amos Diggory's head sitting in the fire. His eyes were wide and lively, but they looked as though he had just seen a ghost (which wasn't surprising to Harry, having seen all the Hogwarts Ghost and that of Cedric and Myrtle as well).
Mrs. Weasley let Harry go and headed toward the fire. "What is it?"
"Its-" he said, and he caught sight of Harry. "Hello Harry" he called, hiding the fear in his voice. He sounded calm, and friendly.
"Hello Mr. Diggory"
"Amos, what's the matter?"
"Harry, could you just give us a moment alone?" asked Amos Diggory.
"Sure" said Harry, as he walked back outside into the backyard, leaving Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Weasley alone.
Ron was already in the air on his broomstick, closely tailed by Ginny, who had just chucked a Quaffle at his head. She looked angry.
"Watch where you're throwing this!" Ron yelled.
"You need to stop acting like you're a star!" Ginny snapped.
"Well, I'm sorry if you're upset that you cant catch a Quaffle" Ron hissed.
"I CAN SO CATCH!" Ginny shouted.
"You two need to stop! I'm doing a bit of work, and I can't concentrate with your shouting and bickering" called Percy. He was sitting at the now cleared Garden Table, which was now littered with the Parchment and Quills that were in his room. He was doing some Ministry work.
Ron looked at him, "Go to your room then!" he yelled.
Percy looked up at him. "Don't make me hurt you!"
"I'd like to see you try, Mr. Clearwater" sneered Ron. He was making fun of Percy. Percy's eyes flared up, and he took out his wand, and muttered "Rictusempra", as a bright yellow light zoomed at Ron, causing him to fall off his broom, and begin laughing uncontrollably.
He managed to take out his wand, and he shrieked "Tarantallegra". A flash of Blue light hit Percy and his legs began to dance out of control.
It was funny, from Harry's view watching two brothers duel. Ginny was laughing so loud, it caused Mrs. Weasley to emerge into the garden.
"What in Merlin's beard is going-WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!" she shrieked, as she saw both Ron and Percy's wands out and pointing at one another. "PERCY! YOU KNOW HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO DO MAGIC AWAY FROM SCHOOL!!"
At this point, it didn't matter, because Percy and Ron still glared at each other, one laughing, and one dancing.
"Finite" said Mrs. Weasley, on both of them, and their spells were gone.
"They'll be sending an owl any moment now, giving your brother a warning" said Mrs. Weasley.
"He started it"
"NO I DIDN'T!" yelled Percy.
"ENOUGH!"
Mrs. Weasley wasn't kidding. "Accio Wands" she said, as Both Percy and Ron's wands soared to her. "You'll get these back at the end of the summer!" she said, and stalked back inside the house, slamming the door. Harry guessed she was still talking to Mr. Diggory.
The garden seemed momentarily frozen at the moment. It was as though someone froze everyone; Ginny was no longer laughing but looked as though she might faint; Ron's jaw was hanging open; Percy looked as though he were petrified.
Suddenly, the sound of a car was heard from the driveway. A Red Van (that reminded Harry of Uncle Vernon's Van) was pulling into the driveway. Once it had stopped, a side door opened, and Hermione walked out of it, as her parents did too.
Hermione had long bushy hair, and brown eyes. She was the same height as Harry (or so it seemed from where she was). She was wearing a Red-skirt, with a Red Blouse.
Her mother and father were Muggles but took Hermione's magical training very seriously. They deeply cared for her as well. Hermione and her parents gathered Hermione's luggage from the back of the van, and began to walk over to everyone.
"Hello there" called Mr. Granger.
"Hi" said Ginny, rushing to hug Hermione.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Mrs. Granger as she looked at Percy and Ron's faces.
"Er.yeah. Everything's ok" said Harry.
"Okay. Well, dear, we've got to get back home. Here's some extra gold, and we hope you have a good year" said Mr. Granger as he bent down and handed Hermione a bag of gold, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Have fun," said Mrs. Granger, as she too kissed Hermione on the cheek. She turned to the others. "Have a great year everyone!"
Mr. and Mrs. Granger retreated back to their van, got in, and drove off, waving at Hermione until they disappeared.
Hermione was staring at Percy, with a look of satisfaction and admiring.
Ron looked at Percy, and then looked at Hermione and said "I'm over here you know!"
Her gaze quickly broke off, and she looked at Ron. "Oh.Hi"
Ginny and Harry grinned, as Percy now walked back to his table, and continued working.
"Oh! Before I forget, I have to talk to all of you" said Hermione quickly, as she dropped her luggage. She dragged, Ron and Harry to another side of the house, as Ginny followed at their heels. Hermione quickly glanced around making sure they couldn't be overheard, and then she directed her attention to Ron, Harry and Ginny.
"What's this all about?" asked Ron. "I'm about to tell you!" Hermione snapped. She lowered her voice a little. "Okay, have any of you been watching the Daily Prophet?"
All three of them shook their heads.
"Well, there were a bunch of articles in there about Voldermort" she continued. Both Ron and Ginny winced at the sound of the name.
"What were they about?" Harry asked.
"He's got the Dementors on his side. It was rumored that Azkaban is no longer run by them, and that there were a bunch of killings 2 days ago," said Hermione. She began to speak a little lower, fearing that someone could hear her. "Fudge said that Azkaban is now run by highly qualified witches and wizards, but he reckons that the public should brace themselves. Then, the Daily Prophet reported that the Ministry had a bunch of trials, sentencing the death eaters that were captured in June, and guess who was sentenced to 6 terms?"
Ron, Harry and Ginny looked at one another, and then looked at Hermione and shrugged.
"Draco's dad!"
"WHAT?"
"Yeah. Fudge was disgusted with him, and threw 6 terms at him. I guess it was because he really trusted Malfoy's dad. And I'm sure you heard about your dad" said Hermione, as she looked at Ginny and Ron.
Both of them looked utterly confused.
"What?" asked Ron.
Hermione stared blankly. "You mean, your dad hasn't told you anything?"
"No. He hasn't been home a lot since the start of the holiday's"
"What's the Daily Prophet said about him?" asked Ginny.
"He's become Assistant Minister of Magic"
Harry thought someone turned the volume up to more than loud. It was as though sets of Filibuster Fireworks were set off, and exploded like Dynamite.
"WHAT?" shrieked Ginny.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" shouted Ron.
"Shut up! Not so loud!" said Hermione. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cut out piece of article from the Daily Prophet.
Ron snatched it from her, as Harry and Ginny bent over his shoulder, trying to read it.
New Assistant Minister of Magic
Arthur Weasley
The Daily Prophet has unearthed startling news of Arthur Weasley being
chosen as Cornelius Fudge's new assistant Minister of Magic. Special Correspondent, Rita Skeeter was given permission to interview the new Assistant Minister of Magic, and I must say, the interview went very
well.
"I was extremely excited about the news when I received it"
Said the over-joyed Assistant.
When asked how his family felt about the news, the conversation
Suddenly turned on an upside-down note. "I haven't told them yet. I am quite afraid to do it, because of what they
might say" he responded. However, we decided not to deepen in on the personal matters, and we asked him how did he feel about his new duties as
Assistant Minister of Magic. "I feel as though I can handle it fairly well. I have been hoping for this
moment for many years and I wasn't sure it was going to happen"
As our readers and the rest of the magic world know, Arthur previously worked in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, where he enjoyed his job, but is feeling even better about having become assistant minister.
The Ministry of Magic has also given control of Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry back to its re-instated headmaster, Albus
Dumbledore as reported several days ago. Everyone wishes the Ministry well, and hope that they will be diving into tactics on how to stop He-who-must-not-be-named who is active once more,
and even more dangerous than he was over sixteen years ago.
The article was written the day after Harry arrived back at privet drive.
"This is great news!" said Harry, smiling.
"I know, but I wonder why dad hasn't told us yet?" said Ginny, as she stared at the moving picture of her father.
Ron gave a look of wonder too. Harry couldn't help but thinking the same thing. Why hadn't Mr. Weasley said anything to his family? It was very weird even to Harry that someone like Mr. Weasley wouldn't let his family in on such good news. Perhaps it was because of Percy's ordeal last year, but then Harry erased that from his mind, because he was only siding with Fudge because of his title as Junior Assistant.
Harry then thought that maybe the Department that sends warnings to any Hogwarts Student who uses magic away from school had taken it into their hearts to excuse Ron's use of magic earlier. Harry agreed with that thought in his brain because the moment Dobby had used a Hover Charm four years ago, an Owl soared in the house with the warning about using magic away from school. But still, Harry had to abandon that, and return to his first thought. He asked himself
"Why hadn't Mr. Weasley told his family the good news?"