Chapter 16
New Administration
The morning after his meeting in the Chamber with his friends, Harry felt more confident than he had in ages. It was a great relief to know that he had people who could help relieve some of the burdens that he lived with everyday. It was a difficult descion when Harry decided to let his friends in on his secrets. However, the tasks ahead of him were far too great for one boy to handle.
The first thing Harry did when he woke up was go to Aberforth's office. Hermione said that she would take care of finding a way to identify the blood that Harry was in possession of, and that she needed access to the restricted section of the library. Harry asked Aberforth if he could sign a note that would grant himself, Ron, and Hermione permission to research in the restricted section of the library. Harry never told Aberforth what they were researching, and he never asked. He wasn't sure whether Aberforth would have agreed with his decision to tell his friends the truth about everything and he was glad that Aberforth never asked.
"I got it." Harry said as he approached the Gryffindor table in the Great hall to show his friends that he had gotten permission to study in the restricted section of the library.
"Excellent." Hermione said. "Then we'll be able to start our search this weekend."
"Alright." Ron said as he proceeded to jam at least 5 sausage links into his mouth. Hermione gave him a quick glance and this time he swallowed what was in his mouth before he continued. "But it can't be Friday. I reserved the Quidditch pitch. We have to start training hard." Harry and Ginny both nodded in agreement.
"Well we have a pretty busy week ahead of us." Harry said. "DA meeting tomorrow, Quidditch on Friday, and on Saturday I told Hagrid that we would go with him to visit Gra, ah er his friend."
"Who?" Ginny asked.
"You'll see." Harry responded with a smile. Ron and Hermione giggled a little too and Ginny looked frustrated. "Don't worry, you'll find out" Harry reassured her with a few light pats on her hand and she conceded.
Classes the rest of the week went very fast because there was a lot to do. Homework was beginning to pile up for all of them, especially Ginny who was preparing to take her Owl's this year. They all spent a lot of time in the common room or the library and Harry would stay around and help Ginny when he was done with his own work.
On Friday after class, the Gryffindor Quidditch team came together for a very spirited practice. Ron had them all practicing drills, and going reviewing plays that he had come up with. He even had a play where Harry would feint a move towards the Snitch and be fed the Quaffle for what Ron said would be an easy goal. It was a clever play, but was dangerous. If the other seeker didn't buy Harry's fake, then Harry would be out of position if the Snitch really did appear.
The practice lasted about four hours and all the members of the team were thoroughly exhausted when they got back to the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Harry went straight to bed and suggested that Ginny do the same since they were going to visit Hagrid in the morning. Her eyes lit up as she remembered that there was some secret person that she was going to meet tomorrow.
After breakfast the next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny headed off towards Hagrid's hut. They had asked Neville to come along but he said that he had too much homework to catch up on and so he would be in the library all day. They promised to meet up with him later as they had some research to do in the restricted section.
They knocked on the door and Hagrid came out and greeted them all happily.
"How er ya all doin." Hagrid bellowed as he patted Ron on the shoulder and almost knocked him down. "I expect Grawp will be quite pleased to see the lot of you. He gets bored havin to jst talk ter me all day."
"Who is Grawp?" Ginny asked. Hagrid gave her a curious look and turned to the other three.
"You havin told her? Well I giss that might er been a good idea. Be cautious. Lets go." Hagrid threw his crossbow over his shoulder and led the four students into the forbidden forest. He could tell that Ginny was a little nervous, especially after seeing Hagrid hoist up the crossbow and so Harry grabbed hold of her hand to ease her comfort.
They strolled pretty deep into the forest. Harry estimated that they had been walking for about twenty minutes when they finally came to a clearing.
"Here we ar." Hagrid said. There were uprooted trees around, but Harry didn't see Grawp anywhere and he was not a hard person to miss.
"What's going on?" Ron said bewildered. Harry saw that Hagrid was looking at a small tent that was sitting in the middle of the clearing but it wasn't even big enough to fit Grawp's foot.
"They're right in there. Follow me." Hagrid had to crawl to get into the tent, which like many other things in the magical world was not what it seemed to be. Hermione stopped Harry and Ron before they had a chance to follow him in.
"Did he just say they?" Hermione asked. "I don't know if I want to go in there." Harry gave her a nervous smile and grabbed Ginny. They entered the tent with Ron and Hermione right on their heels.
When they entered the magically enhanced tent, Harry was astonished to see that it was almost an exact replica of Hagrid's hut, but was scaled to accommodate Grawp. The ceilings were at least 40 feet high. Harry found it comical that even Hagrid looked tiny in proportion to the rest of the house.
Harry scanned the rest of the room until his eyes came upon not one, but two giants sitting at a table together. He looked over at his friends and noticed that they were all starring with there mouths open. Ginny especially looked shocked. She had not blinked since they entered the tent.
"Grawp." Hagrid said calling the attention of his not so little brother. "You remember Harry and Hermione." The pair came forward and stood next to Hagrid as Grawp wrapped on the table with his hand in delight.
"Hermy, Harry." Grawp yelled as he stood up from his chair. He came over towards the group and got on one knee. Harry and Hermione flinched initially, but then were comforted when Grawp extended out his hand to the pair. Harry and Hermione both grabbed one of his fingers and were almost knocked off their feet when Grawp made a subtle shaking motion with his hand.
"An these folks over here are Ron and Ginny." Ron and Ginny came forward and followed the example of Harry and Hermione.
"I tought him ta shake hands this summer. He's pretty good at controlling his own strength now."
"He's doing great." Hermione said to Hagrid with a smile.
"Uh Uh." The other giant who was sitting at the table cleared her throat and it sounded like a fire alarm was going off.
"Oh, right I'm sorry." Hagrid exclaimed. "Everyone, this is Granua." The giantess came forward and bowed in front of the students. She was probably a foot or two taller than Grawp and she had long blond her that extended halfway down her back. She was wearing a sort of dress made of fur that had a strap that went over one of her shoulders and left her arms and the bottom of her legs exposed. Her eyes were a deep dark green and she had a few scars on her face and arms.
"Nice to meet you." She said in a loud but pleasant voice. They exchanged pleasantries and then Granua went back and sat down at the table where Grawp quickly joined her.
"I met Granua this summer through Olympe. I reckon me find'n Grawp here inspired her to find some family of her own. Granua is Olympe's cousin. She's helped Grawp a lot. They train together in the forest everyday. Yep, I expect Grawp will be a major asset now against Voldemort."
Ginny was still in a little bit of shock and was still having a hard time blinking, so they all sat down and told her the story of Hagrid and Madame Maxime's encounter last year with the giants. Ginny was fasinated by the story. Grawp sat very comfortably throughout the whole story. He had calmed down a lot since last year. It was clear that Granua was a lot more civilized than Grawp and it was apparent that her influence was rubbing off on him.
They bid Grawp and Granua goodbye and promised that they would visit again, and head off back out of the forest behind Hagrid.
"All right you three." Ginny said in a sort of sarcastic voice. "I'm getting sick of all these surprises. Is there anything or anyone else that I should know about?"
"As long as we don't run into Aragog, I think you'll be okay" Harry smirked in Ron's direction.
"Don't mention that name." Ron replied quivering. They whole rest of the trip back to the castle; they ignored Ginny's questions about who Aragog was.
Once they settled back in at the castle, Hermione suggested that they get to work in the library. When they arrived, the grabbed Neville who was reading by himself in the corner and headed over to Madam Pince to get access to the restricted section.
"All five of you!" Madam Pince practically shouted as she examined the notes authenticity. "I don't know why we even have a restricted section." She was muttering as she unlocked the door and allowed the children to enter.
"Let's get started." Hermione said as she made her way over to a corner of the section. "Remember, we are looking for a way to identify blood." They all nodded and each picked out a section to get to work on.
About five hours and dozens of piles of books later, they had found nothing. Harry's stomach was growling and he was certain that the others were probably famished as well so he was about to call it a night until he saw Hermione scribbling feverishly on a piece of parchment.
"Hermione, what is it?" Harry screamed. The others dropped what they were doing and focused on Hermione as well. "Did you find something?"
"No, not about the blood." Hermione answered. "But I did find something that could be useful." They all sat there as she finished writing and waited for her to let them in on her discovery.
"Well go on Hermione, what is it?" Ron asked.
"It's time for me to have a secret of my own for now." Hermione smiled. "You'll find out, don't worry." They were all too tired to argue so they packed up the books and headed back to Gryffindor tower. They decided that they would resume their search tomorrow after a good nights rest.
Harry did dream that night, but when he woke up he couldn't remember any specific details. The only thing that he could remember was that Dumbledore had made an appearance in his dream. He thought that he should probably go check on him today if he got the chance.
Sunday was usually a day that Harry and Ron would spend catching up on their homework. But they had stayed up to date on it this year so they were able to use Sunday to relax. Ginny still had homework to catch up on and Harry offered to help her but she said that it was on Arithmacy so she would have to ask Hermione for help.
Ron asked Harry to go flying with him and he agreed so they headed out to the Quidditch pitch which was practically abandoned except for a couple of Ravenclaw's chasers who were doing laps around the stadium. Ron brought a Quaffle with him and Harry tried different maneuvers to attempt to score on him. Harry got a couple past him, but it was clear that Ron had turned into an incredible keeper. It was going to be hard to stop the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year.
When they got back to the common room, they noticed Ginny and Hermione sitting in front of the fireplace so they made their way over to them.
"Good, you're back." Hermione said once she noticed their presence. "Should we go back to the library now and continue the search."
"Yea lets go." Harry replied. The girls got up and followed Harry and Ron out of the common room. "Where's Neville?"
"I don't know." Ginny answered. "Hermione and I have been in the common room all this time and we never saw him. Maybe his is already in the library." Harry nodded and they continued on to the library, but were interrupted by a plea to stop walking from behind them before they arrived.
"The headmaster would like to see you all." Professor McGonagall said once she caught up with them. "Follow me."
"What's this all about?" Ron asked as they continued their journey through the halls.
"I have no idea Mr. Weasley." She replied with an air of annoyance in her voice.
She led them to Dumbledore's office and gave the password. Soon they were all ascending the familiar spiral staircase that led to the headmaster's private quarters.
When they got there, Harry saw Aberforth (Impersonating Dumbledore as usual) sitting at his desk with Hagrid sitting across from him.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley, I have some good news for you and for all of us." Aberforth started. "Your father has just been elected as the temporary Minister of Magic." They all began to shout and celebrate including Hagrid who grabbed Ginny and tossed her up in the air.
"This is great." Ron said. "Can we talk to my dad through the fire? You know to congratulate him?'
"I'll do you one better." Aberforth continued. "Your parents have asked that the four of you be able to attend a victory celebration at the Burrow tonight and I have granted their request. Hagrid has agreed to accompany you and I was going to ask Professor McGonagall if she would like to attend as well."
"That's a nice offer." McGonagall replied. "But I would feel better staying here. The castle must be protected."
"I can assure you, that the castle is more than safe in my hands Minerva." Aberforth said with a cautious look. "I invite you to go if you so desire."
"If it's all the same headmaster, I will stay." She replied as she turned her attention to Ron and Ginny. "But I hope you will offer your father my congratulations"
"Of course we will." Ginny said happily. With that, Professor McGonagall exited the office and the students turned their attention back to Aberforth.
"When do we leave?" Harry asked.
"Whenever you are ready." Aberforth replied. He reached for two old looking candlesticks and tossed them one at a time to Hagrid. "These are portkeys. The first will take you to the Burrow and the second will return you home. Be safe." They nodded and Hagrid threw one of the candlesticks in his pocket and presented the other one to the group. One by one, they grabbed hold and a few seconds later, Harry felt the familiar tugging behind his navel and they landed at the Burrow.
They arrived in the kitchen of the Burrow and noticed that there was no one inside the house.
"I think I hear noise coming from outside." Ginny said. "We should head out there." They all agreed and so Hagrid led them out to the backyard. When they were outside, Harry observed that there were about thirty people there. There were tables set up with food and drinks, and there were other tables where people were sitting down talking. Harry also noticed some familiar faces including Mad Eyed Moody and Tonks. There were also a bunch of people, probably ministry employees, who Harry didn't recognize.
"Oh Arthur look they're here." Molly Weasley shouted as she and Mr. Weasley made their way over to the group. "I'm so glad that you could come." She pulled her two children into a huge bear hug and then advanced on to Harry and Hermione where she did the same.
"Congratulations." Harry said as he extended his hand out to Mr. Weasley. He shook it and then exchanged pleasantries with his children and Hagrid.
"Thanks everyone for coming." Mr. Weasley started. "This is an important day. We have a lot of work to do to straighten up the ministry." They all continued with small talk until Mr. Weasley grabbed his wife and led her around the party. "We have to entertain. You all understand. There's plenty to eat and drink. Have fun."
Ginny grabbed Hermione and they went to talk to Tonks while Harry and Ron walked around the party. They went to one of the food tables to grab a butterbeer and were startled from behind by two sets of hands.
"Hey mates great news huh." Fred said as he grabbed a butterbeer for himself and his brother.
"It sure is." Harry said as he leaned in to talk to Fred so that no one else could hear him. "Thanks for keeping us informed."
"No problem." Fred said with a wink.
"How is our little Ronnykins" George said as he muffled Ron's hair up. "New captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, we're so proud."
"Shut up George." Ron replied as he threw George's hand off his head.
"So, anything new to report?" Harry asked changing the subject to rescue Ron.
"Actually, there are a few things we wanted to show you guys. Why don't you come with us into the house." George said. They followed him into the house and up the stairs until they got to Ron's room.
"We've been using your room to create some of our new inventions little brother, we hope you don't mind." Fred said with a sort of sadistic smile. Ron was a little alarmed and pushed passed his brothers through the door. His room looked more like a lab for a mad scientist than a bedroom. The room was very dark and there were at least five cauldrons that were bubbling up. There was a desk that was covered with a large blue tarp, which obviously had some of their inventions underneath.
"What happened to my bed, and all my stuff?" Ron screamed as he surveyed his room.
"Sorry about that Ron." George responded. "We put your stuff in the shed out back. Don't worry we'll return everything back to normal."
"Eventually." Fred added with a smile.
"So what did you want to show us?" Harry asked. Ron was still pacing around the room trying to find something that would confirm that this was indeed his room at one point.
"We've been working on a few things." George said as he pulled the tarp of the table. There were many gadgets sitting on top of the table and Harry couldn't tell what any of them were.
"I call this the Weasley wand catcher." Fred said as he handed the instrument over to Harry. To Harry it looked a lot like a muggle garage door opener. It was a circular black piece of hard plastic with a button in the middle.
"Go ahead, point it at Ron and push the button." George said. Ron looked terrified as Harry pointed it at him. He pushed the button and Ron's wand flew out of the pocket inside his robe and right into Harry's hand.
"See it works sort of like a magnet." Fred chimed in. "It works with every type wand we've found so far. It's better than a disarming charm because you don't even have to say anything. It takes people completely off guard."
"It's brilliant." Harry said as he examined it further. He reached over to give it back but George just shook his head.
"Keep it." He said. He reached over to the table and picked up another one and tossed it to Ron. "Here's one for you to little brother." Ron caught it and put it in his pocket but didn't say a word. He was most likely still a little pissed off about the room.
"Let's see what else do we have here." George said as he looked over the table.
"Show them the assortment of Weasley's...." Fred was cut off by a large loud explosion that came from outside. The four of them ran to the window but couldn't see anything outside except flames because a tree outside the window was on fire. Harry and Ron ran for the door while Fred and George vanished with a pop. They burst through the back door and when they got outside they saw, total chaos.
Author's note: I hope everyone likes the chapter. There is going to be some action in the next chapter so stay tuned. Thanks for the reviews. I always enjoy reading people's comments and questions.
The morning after his meeting in the Chamber with his friends, Harry felt more confident than he had in ages. It was a great relief to know that he had people who could help relieve some of the burdens that he lived with everyday. It was a difficult descion when Harry decided to let his friends in on his secrets. However, the tasks ahead of him were far too great for one boy to handle.
The first thing Harry did when he woke up was go to Aberforth's office. Hermione said that she would take care of finding a way to identify the blood that Harry was in possession of, and that she needed access to the restricted section of the library. Harry asked Aberforth if he could sign a note that would grant himself, Ron, and Hermione permission to research in the restricted section of the library. Harry never told Aberforth what they were researching, and he never asked. He wasn't sure whether Aberforth would have agreed with his decision to tell his friends the truth about everything and he was glad that Aberforth never asked.
"I got it." Harry said as he approached the Gryffindor table in the Great hall to show his friends that he had gotten permission to study in the restricted section of the library.
"Excellent." Hermione said. "Then we'll be able to start our search this weekend."
"Alright." Ron said as he proceeded to jam at least 5 sausage links into his mouth. Hermione gave him a quick glance and this time he swallowed what was in his mouth before he continued. "But it can't be Friday. I reserved the Quidditch pitch. We have to start training hard." Harry and Ginny both nodded in agreement.
"Well we have a pretty busy week ahead of us." Harry said. "DA meeting tomorrow, Quidditch on Friday, and on Saturday I told Hagrid that we would go with him to visit Gra, ah er his friend."
"Who?" Ginny asked.
"You'll see." Harry responded with a smile. Ron and Hermione giggled a little too and Ginny looked frustrated. "Don't worry, you'll find out" Harry reassured her with a few light pats on her hand and she conceded.
Classes the rest of the week went very fast because there was a lot to do. Homework was beginning to pile up for all of them, especially Ginny who was preparing to take her Owl's this year. They all spent a lot of time in the common room or the library and Harry would stay around and help Ginny when he was done with his own work.
On Friday after class, the Gryffindor Quidditch team came together for a very spirited practice. Ron had them all practicing drills, and going reviewing plays that he had come up with. He even had a play where Harry would feint a move towards the Snitch and be fed the Quaffle for what Ron said would be an easy goal. It was a clever play, but was dangerous. If the other seeker didn't buy Harry's fake, then Harry would be out of position if the Snitch really did appear.
The practice lasted about four hours and all the members of the team were thoroughly exhausted when they got back to the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Harry went straight to bed and suggested that Ginny do the same since they were going to visit Hagrid in the morning. Her eyes lit up as she remembered that there was some secret person that she was going to meet tomorrow.
After breakfast the next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny headed off towards Hagrid's hut. They had asked Neville to come along but he said that he had too much homework to catch up on and so he would be in the library all day. They promised to meet up with him later as they had some research to do in the restricted section.
They knocked on the door and Hagrid came out and greeted them all happily.
"How er ya all doin." Hagrid bellowed as he patted Ron on the shoulder and almost knocked him down. "I expect Grawp will be quite pleased to see the lot of you. He gets bored havin to jst talk ter me all day."
"Who is Grawp?" Ginny asked. Hagrid gave her a curious look and turned to the other three.
"You havin told her? Well I giss that might er been a good idea. Be cautious. Lets go." Hagrid threw his crossbow over his shoulder and led the four students into the forbidden forest. He could tell that Ginny was a little nervous, especially after seeing Hagrid hoist up the crossbow and so Harry grabbed hold of her hand to ease her comfort.
They strolled pretty deep into the forest. Harry estimated that they had been walking for about twenty minutes when they finally came to a clearing.
"Here we ar." Hagrid said. There were uprooted trees around, but Harry didn't see Grawp anywhere and he was not a hard person to miss.
"What's going on?" Ron said bewildered. Harry saw that Hagrid was looking at a small tent that was sitting in the middle of the clearing but it wasn't even big enough to fit Grawp's foot.
"They're right in there. Follow me." Hagrid had to crawl to get into the tent, which like many other things in the magical world was not what it seemed to be. Hermione stopped Harry and Ron before they had a chance to follow him in.
"Did he just say they?" Hermione asked. "I don't know if I want to go in there." Harry gave her a nervous smile and grabbed Ginny. They entered the tent with Ron and Hermione right on their heels.
When they entered the magically enhanced tent, Harry was astonished to see that it was almost an exact replica of Hagrid's hut, but was scaled to accommodate Grawp. The ceilings were at least 40 feet high. Harry found it comical that even Hagrid looked tiny in proportion to the rest of the house.
Harry scanned the rest of the room until his eyes came upon not one, but two giants sitting at a table together. He looked over at his friends and noticed that they were all starring with there mouths open. Ginny especially looked shocked. She had not blinked since they entered the tent.
"Grawp." Hagrid said calling the attention of his not so little brother. "You remember Harry and Hermione." The pair came forward and stood next to Hagrid as Grawp wrapped on the table with his hand in delight.
"Hermy, Harry." Grawp yelled as he stood up from his chair. He came over towards the group and got on one knee. Harry and Hermione flinched initially, but then were comforted when Grawp extended out his hand to the pair. Harry and Hermione both grabbed one of his fingers and were almost knocked off their feet when Grawp made a subtle shaking motion with his hand.
"An these folks over here are Ron and Ginny." Ron and Ginny came forward and followed the example of Harry and Hermione.
"I tought him ta shake hands this summer. He's pretty good at controlling his own strength now."
"He's doing great." Hermione said to Hagrid with a smile.
"Uh Uh." The other giant who was sitting at the table cleared her throat and it sounded like a fire alarm was going off.
"Oh, right I'm sorry." Hagrid exclaimed. "Everyone, this is Granua." The giantess came forward and bowed in front of the students. She was probably a foot or two taller than Grawp and she had long blond her that extended halfway down her back. She was wearing a sort of dress made of fur that had a strap that went over one of her shoulders and left her arms and the bottom of her legs exposed. Her eyes were a deep dark green and she had a few scars on her face and arms.
"Nice to meet you." She said in a loud but pleasant voice. They exchanged pleasantries and then Granua went back and sat down at the table where Grawp quickly joined her.
"I met Granua this summer through Olympe. I reckon me find'n Grawp here inspired her to find some family of her own. Granua is Olympe's cousin. She's helped Grawp a lot. They train together in the forest everyday. Yep, I expect Grawp will be a major asset now against Voldemort."
Ginny was still in a little bit of shock and was still having a hard time blinking, so they all sat down and told her the story of Hagrid and Madame Maxime's encounter last year with the giants. Ginny was fasinated by the story. Grawp sat very comfortably throughout the whole story. He had calmed down a lot since last year. It was clear that Granua was a lot more civilized than Grawp and it was apparent that her influence was rubbing off on him.
They bid Grawp and Granua goodbye and promised that they would visit again, and head off back out of the forest behind Hagrid.
"All right you three." Ginny said in a sort of sarcastic voice. "I'm getting sick of all these surprises. Is there anything or anyone else that I should know about?"
"As long as we don't run into Aragog, I think you'll be okay" Harry smirked in Ron's direction.
"Don't mention that name." Ron replied quivering. They whole rest of the trip back to the castle; they ignored Ginny's questions about who Aragog was.
Once they settled back in at the castle, Hermione suggested that they get to work in the library. When they arrived, the grabbed Neville who was reading by himself in the corner and headed over to Madam Pince to get access to the restricted section.
"All five of you!" Madam Pince practically shouted as she examined the notes authenticity. "I don't know why we even have a restricted section." She was muttering as she unlocked the door and allowed the children to enter.
"Let's get started." Hermione said as she made her way over to a corner of the section. "Remember, we are looking for a way to identify blood." They all nodded and each picked out a section to get to work on.
About five hours and dozens of piles of books later, they had found nothing. Harry's stomach was growling and he was certain that the others were probably famished as well so he was about to call it a night until he saw Hermione scribbling feverishly on a piece of parchment.
"Hermione, what is it?" Harry screamed. The others dropped what they were doing and focused on Hermione as well. "Did you find something?"
"No, not about the blood." Hermione answered. "But I did find something that could be useful." They all sat there as she finished writing and waited for her to let them in on her discovery.
"Well go on Hermione, what is it?" Ron asked.
"It's time for me to have a secret of my own for now." Hermione smiled. "You'll find out, don't worry." They were all too tired to argue so they packed up the books and headed back to Gryffindor tower. They decided that they would resume their search tomorrow after a good nights rest.
Harry did dream that night, but when he woke up he couldn't remember any specific details. The only thing that he could remember was that Dumbledore had made an appearance in his dream. He thought that he should probably go check on him today if he got the chance.
Sunday was usually a day that Harry and Ron would spend catching up on their homework. But they had stayed up to date on it this year so they were able to use Sunday to relax. Ginny still had homework to catch up on and Harry offered to help her but she said that it was on Arithmacy so she would have to ask Hermione for help.
Ron asked Harry to go flying with him and he agreed so they headed out to the Quidditch pitch which was practically abandoned except for a couple of Ravenclaw's chasers who were doing laps around the stadium. Ron brought a Quaffle with him and Harry tried different maneuvers to attempt to score on him. Harry got a couple past him, but it was clear that Ron had turned into an incredible keeper. It was going to be hard to stop the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year.
When they got back to the common room, they noticed Ginny and Hermione sitting in front of the fireplace so they made their way over to them.
"Good, you're back." Hermione said once she noticed their presence. "Should we go back to the library now and continue the search."
"Yea lets go." Harry replied. The girls got up and followed Harry and Ron out of the common room. "Where's Neville?"
"I don't know." Ginny answered. "Hermione and I have been in the common room all this time and we never saw him. Maybe his is already in the library." Harry nodded and they continued on to the library, but were interrupted by a plea to stop walking from behind them before they arrived.
"The headmaster would like to see you all." Professor McGonagall said once she caught up with them. "Follow me."
"What's this all about?" Ron asked as they continued their journey through the halls.
"I have no idea Mr. Weasley." She replied with an air of annoyance in her voice.
She led them to Dumbledore's office and gave the password. Soon they were all ascending the familiar spiral staircase that led to the headmaster's private quarters.
When they got there, Harry saw Aberforth (Impersonating Dumbledore as usual) sitting at his desk with Hagrid sitting across from him.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley, I have some good news for you and for all of us." Aberforth started. "Your father has just been elected as the temporary Minister of Magic." They all began to shout and celebrate including Hagrid who grabbed Ginny and tossed her up in the air.
"This is great." Ron said. "Can we talk to my dad through the fire? You know to congratulate him?'
"I'll do you one better." Aberforth continued. "Your parents have asked that the four of you be able to attend a victory celebration at the Burrow tonight and I have granted their request. Hagrid has agreed to accompany you and I was going to ask Professor McGonagall if she would like to attend as well."
"That's a nice offer." McGonagall replied. "But I would feel better staying here. The castle must be protected."
"I can assure you, that the castle is more than safe in my hands Minerva." Aberforth said with a cautious look. "I invite you to go if you so desire."
"If it's all the same headmaster, I will stay." She replied as she turned her attention to Ron and Ginny. "But I hope you will offer your father my congratulations"
"Of course we will." Ginny said happily. With that, Professor McGonagall exited the office and the students turned their attention back to Aberforth.
"When do we leave?" Harry asked.
"Whenever you are ready." Aberforth replied. He reached for two old looking candlesticks and tossed them one at a time to Hagrid. "These are portkeys. The first will take you to the Burrow and the second will return you home. Be safe." They nodded and Hagrid threw one of the candlesticks in his pocket and presented the other one to the group. One by one, they grabbed hold and a few seconds later, Harry felt the familiar tugging behind his navel and they landed at the Burrow.
They arrived in the kitchen of the Burrow and noticed that there was no one inside the house.
"I think I hear noise coming from outside." Ginny said. "We should head out there." They all agreed and so Hagrid led them out to the backyard. When they were outside, Harry observed that there were about thirty people there. There were tables set up with food and drinks, and there were other tables where people were sitting down talking. Harry also noticed some familiar faces including Mad Eyed Moody and Tonks. There were also a bunch of people, probably ministry employees, who Harry didn't recognize.
"Oh Arthur look they're here." Molly Weasley shouted as she and Mr. Weasley made their way over to the group. "I'm so glad that you could come." She pulled her two children into a huge bear hug and then advanced on to Harry and Hermione where she did the same.
"Congratulations." Harry said as he extended his hand out to Mr. Weasley. He shook it and then exchanged pleasantries with his children and Hagrid.
"Thanks everyone for coming." Mr. Weasley started. "This is an important day. We have a lot of work to do to straighten up the ministry." They all continued with small talk until Mr. Weasley grabbed his wife and led her around the party. "We have to entertain. You all understand. There's plenty to eat and drink. Have fun."
Ginny grabbed Hermione and they went to talk to Tonks while Harry and Ron walked around the party. They went to one of the food tables to grab a butterbeer and were startled from behind by two sets of hands.
"Hey mates great news huh." Fred said as he grabbed a butterbeer for himself and his brother.
"It sure is." Harry said as he leaned in to talk to Fred so that no one else could hear him. "Thanks for keeping us informed."
"No problem." Fred said with a wink.
"How is our little Ronnykins" George said as he muffled Ron's hair up. "New captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, we're so proud."
"Shut up George." Ron replied as he threw George's hand off his head.
"So, anything new to report?" Harry asked changing the subject to rescue Ron.
"Actually, there are a few things we wanted to show you guys. Why don't you come with us into the house." George said. They followed him into the house and up the stairs until they got to Ron's room.
"We've been using your room to create some of our new inventions little brother, we hope you don't mind." Fred said with a sort of sadistic smile. Ron was a little alarmed and pushed passed his brothers through the door. His room looked more like a lab for a mad scientist than a bedroom. The room was very dark and there were at least five cauldrons that were bubbling up. There was a desk that was covered with a large blue tarp, which obviously had some of their inventions underneath.
"What happened to my bed, and all my stuff?" Ron screamed as he surveyed his room.
"Sorry about that Ron." George responded. "We put your stuff in the shed out back. Don't worry we'll return everything back to normal."
"Eventually." Fred added with a smile.
"So what did you want to show us?" Harry asked. Ron was still pacing around the room trying to find something that would confirm that this was indeed his room at one point.
"We've been working on a few things." George said as he pulled the tarp of the table. There were many gadgets sitting on top of the table and Harry couldn't tell what any of them were.
"I call this the Weasley wand catcher." Fred said as he handed the instrument over to Harry. To Harry it looked a lot like a muggle garage door opener. It was a circular black piece of hard plastic with a button in the middle.
"Go ahead, point it at Ron and push the button." George said. Ron looked terrified as Harry pointed it at him. He pushed the button and Ron's wand flew out of the pocket inside his robe and right into Harry's hand.
"See it works sort of like a magnet." Fred chimed in. "It works with every type wand we've found so far. It's better than a disarming charm because you don't even have to say anything. It takes people completely off guard."
"It's brilliant." Harry said as he examined it further. He reached over to give it back but George just shook his head.
"Keep it." He said. He reached over to the table and picked up another one and tossed it to Ron. "Here's one for you to little brother." Ron caught it and put it in his pocket but didn't say a word. He was most likely still a little pissed off about the room.
"Let's see what else do we have here." George said as he looked over the table.
"Show them the assortment of Weasley's...." Fred was cut off by a large loud explosion that came from outside. The four of them ran to the window but couldn't see anything outside except flames because a tree outside the window was on fire. Harry and Ron ran for the door while Fred and George vanished with a pop. They burst through the back door and when they got outside they saw, total chaos.
Author's note: I hope everyone likes the chapter. There is going to be some action in the next chapter so stay tuned. Thanks for the reviews. I always enjoy reading people's comments and questions.