By twelve o'clock the next day Silver's stuff was packed. The atmosphere in the house was quite tense, the idea of a wizard family showing up on their doorstep was horrifying "I hope you told them to dress properly" Menthor asked him. Silver didn't think of this, half the O'Hedges like him didn't wear clothes and the other half had clothes that didn't fit with Menthor's standards. Silver didn't care what the neighbours thought but he was worried about how rude Menthor and Cynthia might be. Menthor had put on his best suit, to some this might seem like a sign of welcome but instead Menthor wanted to look very impressive and intimidating. Menniker meanwhile was looking very stressed recently. His last encounter with an adult wizard seemed to still be on his mind. Lunch that day was a silent event, Menniker didn't even protest the food (Cottage cheese and celery). Eventually Menthor blurted out "They'll be driving, of course?" he asked Silver. He struggled to answer, this was another thing he failed to consider. The O'Hedges did have a car but to Silver's knowledge it was still roaming around the Deep Woods. Maybe Rob was going to borrow some Ministry cars again "I think so". Menthor would usually ask what kind of car as he always judged people on the type of car they drove but Silver doubted he'd like Rob O'Hedge even if he drove a Speed Star. Eventually Silver decided to wait by the stairs. He couldn't stand the tension in the living room. The three of them were all pretending to act normal but were clearly on alert for the sound of an approaching car. But five o'clock passed without a single sound, then quarter past five, maybe traffic was bad. Finally at half past Silver could hear them getting impatient "No consideration at all" "We might've had an engagement" "Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late". Menthor scoffed "They certainly will not. They'll take the boy and go. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken do- AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!". Silver jumped and then saw Menniker running into the hall screaming. Silver tried to stop him "What? What happened!?". Silver ran into the living room and saw Menthor and Cynthia were cowering in the corner "What is it? What is it, Menthor?".
It took Silver a moment to realise what the problem was. There was a sound coming from the behind the electrical fireplace. Silver got closer, someone was talking "Ouch, no, Mighty, go back! Something's wrong. Tell Ray not- OUCH!" it was Rob's voice. He then heard Ray "Maybe Silver can hear us, Dad!" "Good idea". There was a knock "Silver!? Silver, can you hear us?". Menthor and Cynthia were now glaring at Silver "What is it? What's going on?". Silver was trying to fight the mad desire to laugh "They-They tried to get here with Flame Shields… but you've blocked up the fireplace". Silver moved closer and knocked "Mr O'Hedge, can you hear me?" "Shh, is that Silver" "Yeah, it's me. The fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through". He heard Rob kick the wall "Damn. Why on Mobius did they block the fireplace?" "They replaced it with an electric one" "Really? Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that- Ouch! Razor". Silver then heard Razor pushing the others back "What happened? Has something gone wrong?" "Oh, no, Razor. No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up" Mighty said. Rob was trying to think "Okay, I've got something. Stand back, Silver!". Silver took cover behind the couch confusing Menthor "Wait, a moment! What exactly is he going to-" *BANG*. The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Rob, Mighty, Ray and Razor. Rob casually brushed dust off himself "That's better. Ah, you must be Silver's Aunt and Uncle" he held out his hand. Menthor pulled his wife away, they were both completely lost for words. Rob looked around the room he had just destroyed "Yes… Sorry about that. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Flame Network, you see, just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Silver. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking, but I've got a useful contact at the Flame Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Chaos Control out". Silver was ready to bet that Menthor and Cynthia didn't take a single word of this in. Rob smiles at him "Hello, Silver. Got your trunk ready?" "It's upstairs" "We'll get it" Mighty said before he and Ray left the room. Silver got the impression they wanted to see Menniker, Silver had told them a lot about his cousin. Rob was hoping to break the rather nasty silence "Well… Very nice place you've got here".
Still nothing, Menthor and Cynthia looked furious but seemed to scared to actually shout anything. Rob meanwhile was very happy, he loved Muggles and was itching to examine the TV "It runs on eckeltricity, doesn't it. Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs. And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are". Menthor clearly agreed with Mari-An. Menniker then pokes his head out from the doorway. The sound of Mighty and Ray coming back down the stairs seemed to have scared him into the living room "Ah, you must be Menniker. Having a good holiday?" Rob said pleasantly. Menniker like his father was too scared to speak. Razor caught on quicker than Rob and shared an amused glance with Silver. Mighty and Ray then entered with Silver's stuff, they both had evil looking grins on their faces. Rob clapped his hands together "Well, we better get going. Here, boys". He started handing out Flame Shield capsules to his sons and then gave one to Silver "You first, Mighty". Mighty moved towards the fireplace but then suddenly tripped "Oh, no!" he said with fake concern. He dropped a small wrapped piece of chocolate in a shiny wrapper to the floor. No one spotted this so Mighty got back up and went into the fireplace and used the Flame Shield to disappear making Cynthia gasp. "Ray, you next", Ray nodded to Menniker and then went into the fireplace carrying Silver's trunk. Razor was next "Well, nice meeting you" he told the family with a large grin. Silver nodded to his relatives "Well, goodbye" he moved to the fireplace but Rob stopped him. He stared at Menthor and Cynthia in amazement "Aren't you going to say goodbye?" "It doesn't matter" Silver said. Rob did not remove his hand from Silver's shoulder "You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer. Surely you're going to say good-bye?". Menthor's face contorted in fury at the idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But as always when he faced an adult wizard his fear overcame him "Bye, then" he forced himself to say. Silver nodded "See you" he put one step into the fireplace but then he heard a horrible gagging and Cynthia screamed. Silver wheeled around.
Menniker was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth. One bewildered second later, Silver realized that the foot-long thing was Menniker's tongue and that a brightly coloured wrapper lay on the floor before him. Cynthia hurled herself onto the ground beside Menniker, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Menniker yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Menthor was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Rob had to shout to make himself heard. "Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Menniker with his longbow ready, but Cynthia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Menniker, shielding him from Rob. "No, really!" said Rob desperately "It's a simple process. It was the toffee, my son Mighty, real practical joker, but it's only an Engorgement Charm at least, I think it is please, I can correct it". But far from being reassured, the Muggles became more panic stricken. Cynthia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Menniker's tongue as though determined to rip it out. Menniker appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue and Menthor, who had lost control completely, seized a China figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Rob, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace. Rob put his hands on his hips frustrated "Now, really. I'm trying to help!" he raised his longbow again. Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Menthor snatched up another ornament. Rob ducked again "Silver, go! Just go! I'll sort this out!". Silver didn't want to miss the fun, but Menthor's second ornament narrowly missed his left ear, and on balance he thought it best to leave the situation to Rob. He stepped into the fire, looking over his shoulder as he hit the Flame Shield against his chest and said "the Burrow!". His last fleeting glimpse of the living room was of Rob blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Menthor's hand with his bow, Cynthia screaming and lying on top of Menniker, and Menniker's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python. But next moment Silver had begun to spin very fast, and the living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of red flames.