Chapter 3: Parvati's Premonition
As Ron traveled back to the WICCA office that morning on the underground, thoughts cluttered his head about his encounter with Hermione. Had she been flirting with him? "No way," Ron thought to himself, "she was being friendly, that's all." But he couldn't stop thinking about her. He closed his eyes and remembered her rosy cheeks, red from the sun, and her long brown hair that was kissed by a hint of blond, probably also from the sun. He was in agony.
It had been four years since he had spoke with Hermione and seeing her again had been quite a shock. Even though the two had split after their last year at Hogwarts, Hermione still sent owls to Ron and they would see each other during the holidays when Ron went home to the Burrow. Hermione was best friends with Ginny and so that was Ron's sure-fire connection with her. But after she married Draco, Hermione seemed to drift away from the Weasley family completely.
When Ron arrived at the WICCA office he had made up his mind—he couldn't return to the Malfoys' no matter how much commission he received for the deal. Seeing Hermione was just too painful, and seeing Draco would probably send Ron off the deep end. Without thinking, Ron swung Parvati's office door open, but someone was already in there with her.
"Oh...erm...Sorry Parvati. I'll come back later." Ron began to shuffle out the door, but Parvati stopped him.
"It's quite all right Ron, please come in and have a seat. I'd really like to have you here to listen to what I have to say to Mr. McDougal."
Ron shrugged his shoulders and sat down. Parvati was always making lessons out of people who she suspected of bringing in fraudulent claims and taught her employees well on how to spot them.
"So Mr. McDougal," Parvati continued, "what I am trying to tell you is that we cannot process your claim for your enchanted muggle truck which just burned up for no reason! Things like that just don't happen!"
"But now I don't have a truck! How will I get my vegetables to the muggle markets in London?"
"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to light the vehicle on fire." Parvati had her arms crossed now and looked at him impatiently.
"What? What is this rubbish? I'll call the Ministry of Magic to have them help settle this matter."
"I don't think that will be necessary. I had a certain feeling about this claim of yours, so I had my guys check the vehicle for any signs of foul play..."
"And?" said Mr. McDougal half worried, half angered.
"Seems they found some burnt up pieces of wood shavings on the floor of the vehicle."
Mr. McDougal was silent.
Parvati started up again, "Do you think I could please see your wand for a moment Mr. McDougal?"
"Er, what for?" Mr. McDougal grunted.
"Well I just need to do a little bit of checking to see if you are really telling me the truth."
McDougal cautiously handed his wand over to Parvati. She snatched it up from his hand and recited a spell with her own wand touching the tip of his, "Priori Incantatem!"
Mr. McDougal's eyes grew wide with anxiety as he saw his last spell come floating out of the tip of his wand. When the green smoky memory of his last spell came into full view, Ron had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. It was a muggle girl about 18 years old dressed in a bikini and her top kept popping off her chest. Mr. McDougal must have been down at the beach peeping at young girls and using magic to sneak an extra peek.
"This guy's not all that bad Parvati. He's got quite a knack for using charms when they are most needed," Ron couldn't resist commenting. Parvati shot him a look that said, "I'm not finished yet."
The next spell to come out of McDougal's wand was a door unlocking—the alohamora charm. "Boring," Ron thought and he figured he had probably just locked himself out of somewhere. But the next spell to come out of the wand was what Parvati had been counting on: a small, ghostly flame came shooting out of the wand and then exploded into a much larger looking fire.
Parvati ended her spell and handed the wand back to her client.
Mr. McDougal stood up and started defending himself, "Really Ms. Patil I went camping with some of my friends. We needed a fire to keep warm that's all..."
Parvati wasn't listening to him though. Instead she was rummaging through her desk and finally pulled out a piece of parchment and laid it on her desk facing the now silent Mr. McDougal.
"What's this?" Mr. McDougal was now sitting back down in his chair.
"Oh just a waiver for you to sign...to drop your claim, of course. It insures that you remain an honest man," Parvati smiled at him and then glanced at Ron to flash a wink his way. Ron nodded back at her with a wry smile.
Without another word, Mr. McDougal signed the form and quietly left the office.
Parvati said goodbye to him just before the door closed behind him, "Have a great day Mr. McDougal! Thank you!"
"That was brilliant Parvati, how do you do it?" Ron was impressed by Parvati's cool handling of an obviously shady customer.
"Oh it's nothing really, I just have this little divination thing that happens when I go through the claims file." Parvati was actually quite humble about herself and didn't like to brag.
"Divination? You're kidding right? I mean divination is about as helpful as Neville is when you're cooking up a potion!" Ron never believed in the power of divination. Rubbish was all it was to him.
"Call it what you like Ron, but when I am going through those claim files I can just glance at most of them and know they are legitimate. Sometimes though I will get a few that just tie knots in my stomach the second I lay my hands on the parchment. Those are the ones that I investigate for fraud. And you've been around long enough to know that I've never been wrong when I get these hunches."
"That's why you're the boss Ms. Patil," Ron was now just giving Parvati a hard time about believing in divination, "you're smashingly brilliant! "
"Stop it Ron," Parvati brushed off his joke by rolling her eyes and then got serious again, "How did it go at the Malfoy's? Did Draco renew?"
Ron's amusement over the incident with Mr. McDougal dissipated with the mention of Malfoy.
"He wasn't there, out on business is what his house-elf said," Ron lied. He thought perhaps he would go back to the Malfoys' after all. He figured it wouldn't kill him to see Hermione one more time.
"Will you still be up to the task when he returns? I mean, Hermione could be there the next time." Parvati did feel bad for sending Ron to the Malfoys'.
"Oh its quite all right Parvati, I'll go. The house-elf told me to return Monday evening at eight o'clock. I do need this commission." He bowed to Parvati as he opened the door to let himself out. She tossed one of her quills at him playfully and Ron, smiling, quickly closed the door before it could hit him.
As Ron traveled back to the WICCA office that morning on the underground, thoughts cluttered his head about his encounter with Hermione. Had she been flirting with him? "No way," Ron thought to himself, "she was being friendly, that's all." But he couldn't stop thinking about her. He closed his eyes and remembered her rosy cheeks, red from the sun, and her long brown hair that was kissed by a hint of blond, probably also from the sun. He was in agony.
It had been four years since he had spoke with Hermione and seeing her again had been quite a shock. Even though the two had split after their last year at Hogwarts, Hermione still sent owls to Ron and they would see each other during the holidays when Ron went home to the Burrow. Hermione was best friends with Ginny and so that was Ron's sure-fire connection with her. But after she married Draco, Hermione seemed to drift away from the Weasley family completely.
When Ron arrived at the WICCA office he had made up his mind—he couldn't return to the Malfoys' no matter how much commission he received for the deal. Seeing Hermione was just too painful, and seeing Draco would probably send Ron off the deep end. Without thinking, Ron swung Parvati's office door open, but someone was already in there with her.
"Oh...erm...Sorry Parvati. I'll come back later." Ron began to shuffle out the door, but Parvati stopped him.
"It's quite all right Ron, please come in and have a seat. I'd really like to have you here to listen to what I have to say to Mr. McDougal."
Ron shrugged his shoulders and sat down. Parvati was always making lessons out of people who she suspected of bringing in fraudulent claims and taught her employees well on how to spot them.
"So Mr. McDougal," Parvati continued, "what I am trying to tell you is that we cannot process your claim for your enchanted muggle truck which just burned up for no reason! Things like that just don't happen!"
"But now I don't have a truck! How will I get my vegetables to the muggle markets in London?"
"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to light the vehicle on fire." Parvati had her arms crossed now and looked at him impatiently.
"What? What is this rubbish? I'll call the Ministry of Magic to have them help settle this matter."
"I don't think that will be necessary. I had a certain feeling about this claim of yours, so I had my guys check the vehicle for any signs of foul play..."
"And?" said Mr. McDougal half worried, half angered.
"Seems they found some burnt up pieces of wood shavings on the floor of the vehicle."
Mr. McDougal was silent.
Parvati started up again, "Do you think I could please see your wand for a moment Mr. McDougal?"
"Er, what for?" Mr. McDougal grunted.
"Well I just need to do a little bit of checking to see if you are really telling me the truth."
McDougal cautiously handed his wand over to Parvati. She snatched it up from his hand and recited a spell with her own wand touching the tip of his, "Priori Incantatem!"
Mr. McDougal's eyes grew wide with anxiety as he saw his last spell come floating out of the tip of his wand. When the green smoky memory of his last spell came into full view, Ron had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. It was a muggle girl about 18 years old dressed in a bikini and her top kept popping off her chest. Mr. McDougal must have been down at the beach peeping at young girls and using magic to sneak an extra peek.
"This guy's not all that bad Parvati. He's got quite a knack for using charms when they are most needed," Ron couldn't resist commenting. Parvati shot him a look that said, "I'm not finished yet."
The next spell to come out of McDougal's wand was a door unlocking—the alohamora charm. "Boring," Ron thought and he figured he had probably just locked himself out of somewhere. But the next spell to come out of the wand was what Parvati had been counting on: a small, ghostly flame came shooting out of the wand and then exploded into a much larger looking fire.
Parvati ended her spell and handed the wand back to her client.
Mr. McDougal stood up and started defending himself, "Really Ms. Patil I went camping with some of my friends. We needed a fire to keep warm that's all..."
Parvati wasn't listening to him though. Instead she was rummaging through her desk and finally pulled out a piece of parchment and laid it on her desk facing the now silent Mr. McDougal.
"What's this?" Mr. McDougal was now sitting back down in his chair.
"Oh just a waiver for you to sign...to drop your claim, of course. It insures that you remain an honest man," Parvati smiled at him and then glanced at Ron to flash a wink his way. Ron nodded back at her with a wry smile.
Without another word, Mr. McDougal signed the form and quietly left the office.
Parvati said goodbye to him just before the door closed behind him, "Have a great day Mr. McDougal! Thank you!"
"That was brilliant Parvati, how do you do it?" Ron was impressed by Parvati's cool handling of an obviously shady customer.
"Oh it's nothing really, I just have this little divination thing that happens when I go through the claims file." Parvati was actually quite humble about herself and didn't like to brag.
"Divination? You're kidding right? I mean divination is about as helpful as Neville is when you're cooking up a potion!" Ron never believed in the power of divination. Rubbish was all it was to him.
"Call it what you like Ron, but when I am going through those claim files I can just glance at most of them and know they are legitimate. Sometimes though I will get a few that just tie knots in my stomach the second I lay my hands on the parchment. Those are the ones that I investigate for fraud. And you've been around long enough to know that I've never been wrong when I get these hunches."
"That's why you're the boss Ms. Patil," Ron was now just giving Parvati a hard time about believing in divination, "you're smashingly brilliant! "
"Stop it Ron," Parvati brushed off his joke by rolling her eyes and then got serious again, "How did it go at the Malfoy's? Did Draco renew?"
Ron's amusement over the incident with Mr. McDougal dissipated with the mention of Malfoy.
"He wasn't there, out on business is what his house-elf said," Ron lied. He thought perhaps he would go back to the Malfoys' after all. He figured it wouldn't kill him to see Hermione one more time.
"Will you still be up to the task when he returns? I mean, Hermione could be there the next time." Parvati did feel bad for sending Ron to the Malfoys'.
"Oh its quite all right Parvati, I'll go. The house-elf told me to return Monday evening at eight o'clock. I do need this commission." He bowed to Parvati as he opened the door to let himself out. She tossed one of her quills at him playfully and Ron, smiling, quickly closed the door before it could hit him.