Chapter 8

"All right," said Shannon looking at the young girl. "Well, I was born in Brooklyn, New York. I'm an only child. My mother's an American and my father's English. We moved to New York, New York when I was ten. Continued my schooling until I was seventeen, been working for the American Ministry of Magic since then. Any specific questions you have?"

"How many wizarding schools are there in America?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Four," Shannon said as they walked down the street. "One for each area."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"Each school coincides with the different time zones in America," said Shannon. "One for Pacific, one for Mountain, one for Central, and one for East Coast. I was located on the East Coast so I went to that one."

"Did each school have a different name?" asked Harry.

"Pacific Wizarding School," said Shannon, "Mountain Range Wizarding School, Central Wizarding School, and Ocean View Wizarding School."

"I didn't know America had that many schools," said Hermione.

"Didn't it give you that information in one of your books?" asked Ron.

"No," Hermione said. "The only thing in my books about schools were European schools."

"Like Viktor's school," said Ron coldly.

"You leave Viktor out of this," hissed Hermione.

"Okay that's enough you two," said Bill. "Ron, be nice to Hermione."

"But," said Ron.

"No buts," said Bill.

"Who's Viktor?" asked Shannon.

"Viktor Krum is a professional Quidditch player that Hermione got to know during our fourth year," said Harry. "Ron's not to fond of him."

"Oh, I see what happened," Shannon said with a smile. "Shall we go back to the Burrow?"

"Yeah, mum wants us home for lunch," said Bill.

"Well it's already quarter after twelve," Shannon said looking at her watch. "Best to show up now and not at like three or four."

"I agree," said Charlie. "Oh, by the way, mum said you can transfigure the house."

"Really," said Shannon as they walked down the street. "Wicked. I'll have to do some planning and of course it'll have to be done at night so that no muggles see us."

"She sure does seem happy that your mum's letting her do this," Harry said to Ron as they drifted behind them.

"Yeah well, that's Charlie's fault," Ron said. "He said something about trying to find a way to make more room in the house so that we weren't so cramped. Then the idea of transfiguring our house popped into her head."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have more room though?" Hermione asked. "That way you don't have to share a room with Fred and George when your older brothers come to visit."

"I like the idea and all but it'll take some time to get use too," Ron said. "I kind of like my room the way it is. But I do want more space."

"This looks like a good spot," said Bill as they left Diagon Alley.

They looked around and saw that they were in the small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. Each one of them quickly Disapparated and was back in the Burrow. To their surprise, Mrs. Weasley was not home.

"She left at noon to buy something for lunch," Ginny said as they entered the living room. "Welcome back, Shannon."

"Thank you, dear," said Shannon. "Wizards Chess. Very weird game."

"Do you know how to play?" asked Ginny as one piece advanced forward.

"Yes I do," said Shannon. "I learned how to play normal chess before I learned how to play this. Same thing but you don't have to move the pieces. They move themselves."

"Wanna play?" Ginny asked.

"No thank you," Shannon said. "I need to do some drawing. Want to help with that? You can tell me where you want everyone's rooms to be."

"Okay," said Ginny as they retreated to the kitchen table.

Boom. The house shook violently as the shock wave expanded. Hermione grabbed Harry as they looked around.

"What was that?" asked Shannon.

The two girls came hurrying back into the room. Ginny held onto Shannon's robe as the walls slowly stopped vibrating. Then another loud boom filled the house. The house shook violently once again. Harry covered Hermione with his robe as dirt fell from the ceiling. Shannon did the same to Ginny.

"Are Fred and George home?" asked Bill as the walls stopped moving.

"Yes," said Ginny.

"Let's go investigate," said Charlie. "I want all of you outside. Bill and Shannon will come with me."

"Okay," said Hermione as she and Ginny drug the boys outside.

They sat outside for about fifteen minutes listening to shouts and yells until all fell quiet. Finally, Shannon and Bill came marching outside. Bill was obviously angry about something, but they were shocked when he started arguing with Shannon.

"Why did you do that, Shan?" asked Bill stepping in front of her.

"This way they can't be of anymore danger," Shannon said. "If they can't speak they can't do magic and therefore they can't put us at anymore damage."

"But why did you take their voices with you?" Bill hissed.

"Don't worry, Bill, I'll give them back their voices in either a couple hours or a couple days," Shannon said. "I'll do it when they're sleeping of course."

"What happened?" asked Ron.

"Bill's mad because I took Fred and George's voices," said Shannon as she sat down on the ground. "Things will be a little quieter for a while."

"Mum's not going to be happy with them or you," said Ginny.

"Your mom popped in and gave me the idea," said Shannon. "She thinks it's a wonderful idea and wants me to teach her how to do the spell."

"There's a spell for taking away someone's voice," exclaimed Harry and Ron.

"Perfect for Malfoy," said Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Men," Hermione, Ginny, and Shannon said together.

The three girls then broke into a fit of giggles. Charlie came outside and sat beside Shannon. She looked so tired. Mrs. Weasley came bustling outside with a worried look.

"Lunch will be in a couple minutes," she said looking at each other as her gaze settled on Shannon.

"Oh dear I left all my papers on your kitchen table," Shannon said as she stood up. "I'll clean that up right now."

Shannon seemed to have difficulties moving around in a skirt as she stood up. She seemed more accustomed to pants. It's like a fisherman being on land. He doesn't do to well, but when he's at sea he's just fine.

Once Shannon returned and Mrs. Weasley had disappeared back into the house, they broke into chatter. Shannon set out her blue prints for all to see. She had drawn a three-story house with a basement. She had four different boards and each had a different floor plan on it.

The first floor had a kitchen, living room, an extra room, and a washroom for laundry. On the second floor were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom, a study/library, and two more bedrooms. The third floor had four bedrooms. Each bedroom had it's own bathroom. Then there was the basement, which held nothing but old family things.

"Does anyone have any objections to this layout?" asked Shannon.

"Where's the ghoul going to live?" asked Ron. "There's no attic."

Ever since Harry could remember, there had always been a ghoul living in the Weasley's attic. But Ron was right. There was no attic.

"Simple," said Shannon pointing to floor plan. "He'll live in the basement. I've labeled each room. So are there any objections to these arrangements? Ginny, your room will be on the second floor. All of you guys will be located on the top floor."

"What about Percy?" asked Ginny.

"There's an extra bedroom on the second floor," pointed out Shannon. "So that if he does come home he'll have a room waiting for him. Oh, each room is self cleaning, so there will never be any dust or dirt on the floor ever."

"Mum's going to love that," said Bill.

"Your mother is going to die when she sees her new kitchen," smiled Shannon. "A fridge that is two times larger than the regular refrigerator, also a stove with six burners and an oven. In the kitchen there's a table that will seat all nine Weasley's plus three or four guests."

"Wow," they all said.

"You thought of everything," Ginny said looking each plan over. "Each bedroom has it's own bathroom."

"Yeah," Shannon said. "You even have a library and study. Which, when I'm done, will have every single book you guys have and ever will need for school, a copy for each person."

"Don't over do it now, Shan," said Charlie. "I don't need you wiped out for a week cause you did all of this."

"Don't worry, Charlie," said Shannon. "I won't be totally exhausted."

"Just don't over do it," Charlie said.

"Lunch is ready," Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen door.

"Are you going to give Fred and George their voices back soon?" Ginny asked as she helped pick up the house plans.

"I think I'll do that tonight," Shannon said as they started back to the house. "But don't tell them that."

Ginny giggled as they entered the house. Once everyone was seated, Mrs. Weasley passed out sandwiches and Butterbeer. She then sat down and everyone began to eat.

"So, Shannon," said Mrs. Weasley. "How are those plans coming along?"

"Oh, they're done, ma'am," said Shannon. "If you'd like, after we're done eating I can show you."

"That would be nice, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

They ate in silence until Mrs. Weasley said, "Why so quiet, Fred? You and George haven't said anything for a while."

The twins looked at each other and then their mother. They narrowed their eyes as they turned their gazes to Shannon, who smiled sweetly at them and continued to drink her Butterbeer. Shannon petted the necklace around her neck. On the silver chain, were two small bottles filled with some maroon liquid. Each bottle had an initial printed on it. These two bottles had the initials F and G on them to represent Fred and George.

Once they were done eating, they moved to the living room where Shannon showed Mrs. Weasley her plans for the Burrow. Shannon explained to her what would be in each room. Mrs. Weasley's face lit up as Shannon told her more and more about her new home.

"What do you think, Mrs. Weasley?" asked Shannon once she had explained where the ghoul would be living.