Ch.2 Return to Grimwauld Place
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
When Harry awoke the next morning to an owl tapping at his window. Harry immediately got up and went to his window wrenched it open, the owl flew inside dropped the newspaper, the daily prophet on his bed and flew to Harry, awaiting payment. Harry dropped a silver sickle into the pouch hanging from its leg and it flew off. Harry stared at the cover a large sheepish looking Arthur Weasley was plastering half the cover and a humongous headline read.
"FUDGE STEPS DOWN, NEW MINISTER OF MAGIC ANGERS MANY!!" It yelled loudly without speaking.
Harry stared at it and hastened to read the story below the enormous photograph.
"Minister of magic Cornelius Fudge stepped down from his position last night at the hour of seven thirty-six saying that 'I can not handle the stress of he who must not be named returning again, so I renounce my title to no other than Arthur Weasley.' Many skeptical looks were thrown in response to this pronouncement. For Arthur Weasley has been working in the misuse of muggle artifacts office for nearly twenty years and many believe that he is not qualified for the job. Dumbledore on the other hand is quite overjoyed he states. 'No one, not even myself qualifies for the position more than Arthur, he will revolutionize the way the ministry is run."
Harry scanned the article nothing of importance jumped out at him; he turned the page and found the headline "Hogwarts defense against the dark arts teacher found!" Harry scanned this too apparently some American woman named Teek Everwood had taken the post. It was common knowledge at Hogwarts School that the defense against the dark arts job was cursed this American was quite brave to take it.
An uneventful week passed, (unless you count Dudley being brought home by the police to many tears of Aunt Petunia, insisting they had the wrong child.) Harry finally received word from Ron about the summer holidays Ron simply stated, "That the Weasley's would be picking him up the next Saturday at ten whether or not the Dursley's liked it. They were to be going to Grimwauld place due to the fact that the burrow was no longer a safe place for Harry to stay while Voldemort was in power." Grimwauld place was the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, a resistance created to fight Voldemort when necessary.
Harry gleefully packed his things and informed the Dursley's the Weasley's would be picking Harry up the coming up Saturday. There was an outbreak of fright at this. For the Weasley's had destroyed half their living room and increased Dudley's tongue to a size of eight feet two summers ago. They had no objection maybe it was the fear of vomiting in fear that they kept their mouths shut.
"They better be coming in cars this time!" Stated Uncle Vernon in a bossy sort of voice.
"They are" Said Harry, because the minister of magic would certainly be allowed to borrow a couple of ministry cars.
Harry was hoping very much this was true because he could not afford another row with the Dursley's. They had thrown him out the previous summer (or almost did).
When Saturday finally arrived Harry had his stuff by the door ready to go to prevent (or try to prevent) the Weasley's from coming inside. Because Uncle Vernon clearly stated "None of your lot are setting foot in my house!" Hedwig was sitting rather disgruntled in her cage on top of Harry's trunk. At nine forty-five they heard a car approaching in the driveway. Harry lifted his trunk and Hedwig towards the door. He opened it just as Fred stepped forward to ring the doorbell.
When he saw Harry he picked up his trunk and Hedwig and carried it towards the splendid emerald green limo waiting in the driveway. Harry watched him he was wearing a rather strange looking green muggle suit with a long green cloak that contrasted oddly. When they reached the limo, Fred placed the trunk carefully in the trunk slammed it and beckoned Harry to the car. Harry got inside, so did Fred and when he slammed the door behind him, everyone in the limo burst out laughing, Harry, who had joined in on the laughter, looked around and saw Fred, George, Ron and Ginny all sitting in the car. Harry sat next to Ron and asked Fred.
"Why were you so quiet you made me think I was climbing into a hearse?" "Ministers orders, 'don't talk in front of the muggles you might let something slip.' Honestly you would think he would trust his son more" Fred said musingly imitating his father's voice.
Harry looked around the rather large limo and noticed who was missing and said, "Where's Hermione she was supposed to come too wasn't she?"
"Er, well, she went on holiday with her parents about a week ago" Ron said awkwardly. Harry suspected Ron wasn't telling him something. Harry stared around the limo, which had just started moving, his eyes fell on Ginny. Harry noticed she had grown into a very pretty girl. Harry turned to talk to Fred and George.
"Don't you have to be at the shop?" He asked Fred.
"Nope," He said. "We have a fellow named Lee Jordan working there on weekends. Business is booming and we have loads new products, wait till you see our shop." Harry did not need telling twice he looked forward to going there very much. He decided to direct the conversation towards Ron again. "So, what N.E.W.T.'s are you taking?" He asked Ron making him jump.
"Wha?" He said confused.
"N.E.W.T.'s! Which ones are you taking?" Harry said louder.
"Oh, I'm taking all the classes I need to be a dragon keeper like Charlie." Harry was quite surprised by this, but he kept it to himself, he had always expected Ron to join Fred and George in The Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Er, how many O.W.L's did you get?" He asked Ron.
"Ten." he replied "I got O in care of magical creatures and defense against the dark arts. You?"
"Eleven, I got O in care of magical creatures, defense against the dark arts, and charms and guess what else?"
"What?" said Ron rather feebly.
"Prefect." Harry said pulling the tiny badge out of his pocket and gave it to Ron. "Dumbledore made special arrangements" Ron smiled and said
"Guess how many O.W.L's Hermione got?"
"Twelve." Harry said his suspicions confirmed.
"Yep." Said Ron speaking more comfortably.
"So your dad got minister. Why the heck did fudge step down?" Harry asked.
"Fudge stepped down because he knew Umbridge and all that 'hem hem' was going to his head." Ron stated matter-a-factly. Fred, George, Harry and Ron all looked at each other and burst out laughing. After they finally stopped. Ron said
"No one really knows why he stepped down, and as for dad becoming minister no one knows either but dad is convinced Dumbledore put in a good word for him."
"Your dad deserves to be minister. What does Percy have to say about this?
"Percy is still the minister's personal assistant, he rejoined the family and hasn't said one word about leaving." Ron said
The limo came to a sudden stop; George peeked out the window and said "We're here!" he said opening the door. They were in front of two-muggle buildings labeled grimwauld place number eleven and thirteen.
Harry immediately thought, "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at number twelve grimwauld place." A door materialized out of nowhere, closely followed by the rest of the house. Fred pulled out his wand and tapped the door; there was a series of metallic clicks and the door swung open.
Harry's immediate impression was that they where in the wrong place. The fact was grimwauld place changed...a lot. For one thing the heads of the late house elves no longer hung on the wall, and another the portrait of Mrs. Black was removed and yet another the walls were no longer black but a warm red.
Fred and George took his trunk upstairs while Harry and Ron headed into the kitchen, in which Mrs. Weasley was serving stew into several bowls Harry and Ron sat down in two chairs and had the steaming bowls of stew laid in front of them. They ate in silence, not knowing what to say. They retreated upstairs to their bedroom and Harry asked Ron
"When are we going to Diagon alley?"
"Tomorrow. Oh, I forgot to tell you Kreacher died they have a new house elf now her name is twinkle she's pretty cool." Ron said pulling on his pajamas.
Harry and Ron climbed into bed. Harry had never felt this disconnected from Ron since they met. Harry just figured he wasn't telling him something.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
When Harry awoke the next morning to an owl tapping at his window. Harry immediately got up and went to his window wrenched it open, the owl flew inside dropped the newspaper, the daily prophet on his bed and flew to Harry, awaiting payment. Harry dropped a silver sickle into the pouch hanging from its leg and it flew off. Harry stared at the cover a large sheepish looking Arthur Weasley was plastering half the cover and a humongous headline read.
"FUDGE STEPS DOWN, NEW MINISTER OF MAGIC ANGERS MANY!!" It yelled loudly without speaking.
Harry stared at it and hastened to read the story below the enormous photograph.
"Minister of magic Cornelius Fudge stepped down from his position last night at the hour of seven thirty-six saying that 'I can not handle the stress of he who must not be named returning again, so I renounce my title to no other than Arthur Weasley.' Many skeptical looks were thrown in response to this pronouncement. For Arthur Weasley has been working in the misuse of muggle artifacts office for nearly twenty years and many believe that he is not qualified for the job. Dumbledore on the other hand is quite overjoyed he states. 'No one, not even myself qualifies for the position more than Arthur, he will revolutionize the way the ministry is run."
Harry scanned the article nothing of importance jumped out at him; he turned the page and found the headline "Hogwarts defense against the dark arts teacher found!" Harry scanned this too apparently some American woman named Teek Everwood had taken the post. It was common knowledge at Hogwarts School that the defense against the dark arts job was cursed this American was quite brave to take it.
An uneventful week passed, (unless you count Dudley being brought home by the police to many tears of Aunt Petunia, insisting they had the wrong child.) Harry finally received word from Ron about the summer holidays Ron simply stated, "That the Weasley's would be picking him up the next Saturday at ten whether or not the Dursley's liked it. They were to be going to Grimwauld place due to the fact that the burrow was no longer a safe place for Harry to stay while Voldemort was in power." Grimwauld place was the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, a resistance created to fight Voldemort when necessary.
Harry gleefully packed his things and informed the Dursley's the Weasley's would be picking Harry up the coming up Saturday. There was an outbreak of fright at this. For the Weasley's had destroyed half their living room and increased Dudley's tongue to a size of eight feet two summers ago. They had no objection maybe it was the fear of vomiting in fear that they kept their mouths shut.
"They better be coming in cars this time!" Stated Uncle Vernon in a bossy sort of voice.
"They are" Said Harry, because the minister of magic would certainly be allowed to borrow a couple of ministry cars.
Harry was hoping very much this was true because he could not afford another row with the Dursley's. They had thrown him out the previous summer (or almost did).
When Saturday finally arrived Harry had his stuff by the door ready to go to prevent (or try to prevent) the Weasley's from coming inside. Because Uncle Vernon clearly stated "None of your lot are setting foot in my house!" Hedwig was sitting rather disgruntled in her cage on top of Harry's trunk. At nine forty-five they heard a car approaching in the driveway. Harry lifted his trunk and Hedwig towards the door. He opened it just as Fred stepped forward to ring the doorbell.
When he saw Harry he picked up his trunk and Hedwig and carried it towards the splendid emerald green limo waiting in the driveway. Harry watched him he was wearing a rather strange looking green muggle suit with a long green cloak that contrasted oddly. When they reached the limo, Fred placed the trunk carefully in the trunk slammed it and beckoned Harry to the car. Harry got inside, so did Fred and when he slammed the door behind him, everyone in the limo burst out laughing, Harry, who had joined in on the laughter, looked around and saw Fred, George, Ron and Ginny all sitting in the car. Harry sat next to Ron and asked Fred.
"Why were you so quiet you made me think I was climbing into a hearse?" "Ministers orders, 'don't talk in front of the muggles you might let something slip.' Honestly you would think he would trust his son more" Fred said musingly imitating his father's voice.
Harry looked around the rather large limo and noticed who was missing and said, "Where's Hermione she was supposed to come too wasn't she?"
"Er, well, she went on holiday with her parents about a week ago" Ron said awkwardly. Harry suspected Ron wasn't telling him something. Harry stared around the limo, which had just started moving, his eyes fell on Ginny. Harry noticed she had grown into a very pretty girl. Harry turned to talk to Fred and George.
"Don't you have to be at the shop?" He asked Fred.
"Nope," He said. "We have a fellow named Lee Jordan working there on weekends. Business is booming and we have loads new products, wait till you see our shop." Harry did not need telling twice he looked forward to going there very much. He decided to direct the conversation towards Ron again. "So, what N.E.W.T.'s are you taking?" He asked Ron making him jump.
"Wha?" He said confused.
"N.E.W.T.'s! Which ones are you taking?" Harry said louder.
"Oh, I'm taking all the classes I need to be a dragon keeper like Charlie." Harry was quite surprised by this, but he kept it to himself, he had always expected Ron to join Fred and George in The Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Er, how many O.W.L's did you get?" He asked Ron.
"Ten." he replied "I got O in care of magical creatures and defense against the dark arts. You?"
"Eleven, I got O in care of magical creatures, defense against the dark arts, and charms and guess what else?"
"What?" said Ron rather feebly.
"Prefect." Harry said pulling the tiny badge out of his pocket and gave it to Ron. "Dumbledore made special arrangements" Ron smiled and said
"Guess how many O.W.L's Hermione got?"
"Twelve." Harry said his suspicions confirmed.
"Yep." Said Ron speaking more comfortably.
"So your dad got minister. Why the heck did fudge step down?" Harry asked.
"Fudge stepped down because he knew Umbridge and all that 'hem hem' was going to his head." Ron stated matter-a-factly. Fred, George, Harry and Ron all looked at each other and burst out laughing. After they finally stopped. Ron said
"No one really knows why he stepped down, and as for dad becoming minister no one knows either but dad is convinced Dumbledore put in a good word for him."
"Your dad deserves to be minister. What does Percy have to say about this?
"Percy is still the minister's personal assistant, he rejoined the family and hasn't said one word about leaving." Ron said
The limo came to a sudden stop; George peeked out the window and said "We're here!" he said opening the door. They were in front of two-muggle buildings labeled grimwauld place number eleven and thirteen.
Harry immediately thought, "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at number twelve grimwauld place." A door materialized out of nowhere, closely followed by the rest of the house. Fred pulled out his wand and tapped the door; there was a series of metallic clicks and the door swung open.
Harry's immediate impression was that they where in the wrong place. The fact was grimwauld place changed...a lot. For one thing the heads of the late house elves no longer hung on the wall, and another the portrait of Mrs. Black was removed and yet another the walls were no longer black but a warm red.
Fred and George took his trunk upstairs while Harry and Ron headed into the kitchen, in which Mrs. Weasley was serving stew into several bowls Harry and Ron sat down in two chairs and had the steaming bowls of stew laid in front of them. They ate in silence, not knowing what to say. They retreated upstairs to their bedroom and Harry asked Ron
"When are we going to Diagon alley?"
"Tomorrow. Oh, I forgot to tell you Kreacher died they have a new house elf now her name is twinkle she's pretty cool." Ron said pulling on his pajamas.
Harry and Ron climbed into bed. Harry had never felt this disconnected from Ron since they met. Harry just figured he wasn't telling him something.