This story is inspired by the fanfiction story titled 'Guy Fawkes Day' by MisterQ. Go read it! Space Expansion Charms are unforgiving when misused in that story.
Just writing a story for fun and enjoyment. Thanks to Rowling for giving the world Harry Potter and his friends (and enemies). She owns everything and I'm just imagining shapes in the clouds on a summer day.
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Balance of September 1994Hogwarts settled into classes and studies. At the prompting of Professor Snape, a memorial service was planned for the 'dead' Slytherin students for 1 October. Everyone realized that the school was fortunate with only four students dead or unaccounted for from the terrorist attack. Professor McGonagall thanked him quietly for waiting until that date so that she could include the missing Weasley children if necessary.
The Slytherin students never mentioned Draco Malfoy to the other students, but they did speak about Pansy Parkinson. And the Gryffindor students didn't speak much about Ronald and Ginevra Weasley though Fred and George talked about Ron's skill at chess and Ginny's talent to cast jinxes on the sly.
Headmaster Dumbledore seemed lost in his thoughts much of the time. The Department of Mysteries had approached him about searching the castle for items that were connected to the infamous Tom Riddle and while the headmaster's first impulse was to forbid the search, a visit by Minister Crouch, Undersecretary Diggory, Director Bones, and Unspeakable 23 convinced him to cooperate (and keep his job).
During the meeting in his office, Dumbledore was forced to hand over the diary that he'd kept hidden in his desk drawer since 1993. The yelling and shouting by Crouch, Diggory, and Bones were just the beginning of an uncomfortable week for Albus who had to present himself in the Department of Mysteries for questioning and examination for contamination by 'evil'.
"I'm not affected by Dark Magic!" Dumbledore stated firmly when the Unspeakables demanded that he place all magical items inside an iron box before they examined his magic.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin's bad breath," swore Unspeakable 23. "Albus Dumbledore, Dark Magic is not evil! Light Magic can be used for evil just like Dark Magic! Magic is about intent!"
Nonetheless, Dumbledore refused to be parted from his wand, and the Unspeakables declared the headmaster to be under the influence of a powerful artefact of unknown origin.
The requirement to visit the Department of Unspeakables began as a feint to allow the majority of the Unspeakables to search the castle for the two soul jars their magical rituals told them were there. The piece of Tom Riddle's soul was easily removed from the scar of Harry Potter's forehead with a goblin diverter. And with the help of the house elves, the Unspeakables located and removed Ravenclaw's Diadem from the Room of Requirement. The Unspeakables were gone from the castle for two hours before the disgruntled Dumbledore returned (by portkey). Like many persons in Magical Britain, the headmaster remained leery of the Floo Network after the events of 1 September.
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A Return / Late SeptemberIt was lunch time on a Friday when the doors of the Great Hall opened to allow Arthur Weasley to lead his youngest son back into Hogwarts. Everyone in the hall's attention was on the two redheads and the level of conversation rose naturally.
"Ron!" shouted Fred, George, Harry, and Hermione. The four Gryffindors rose from their seats to rush to the pair to welcome Ron back.
Fred, George and Hermione hugged Ron, and Harry shook his hand, before Fred asked, "Where's Ginny?"
"And where's Mum?" asked George.
Deputy Headmistress McGonagall arrived as Arthur led the twins, Ron and the other two students back to the entry hall to discuss their news.
"Molly and Ginny stayed…they decided…" Arthur struggled to say.
In a loud voice, Ron explained, "Mum and Ginny stayed in Morocco."
"Morocco?" asked Hermione. "How did you end up in North Africa?"
"We were in Morocco! Not Africa! You don't know everything!" Ron replied, his voice remaining loud enough that the students inside the Great Hall could hear through the closed doors.
Ron continued, "When the floo at home exploded, it sucked me, Mum and Ginny inside. We spun around for a long time and then fell out on a grass yard. Mum landed on top of me and then Ginny landed on top of us."
"Why are you talking so loud?" George asked, covering his ears.
"What do you mean? I'm talking normal!" insisted Ron. "Why are you picking on me?"
Professor McGonagall cast a spell to lower Ron's voice, but it failed to work. So, the professor changed to a spell that filtered the sounds received by each person's ears.
Hermione and Harry both watched the incantation carefully and would seek tutoring and practice before returning the Gryffindor dormitory with Ron. They had to protect their ears and everyone else too.
'Lord don't let his snoring be louder,' prayed Harry most seriously. Last spring, it took him and Neville both casting spells to silence Ron's snores at normal decibels.
Ron's story continued, "When I looked up, I thought I'd landed in a Veela colony – there were young women with feathers on their heads and arms standing around with spears."
"But then the women started screaming at us! And their voices got louder and louder!" Ron said as he shivered and covered his ears remembering how painful the shouting had been.
Arthur slipped an arm around his son's shoulders and said, "The exploding floo threw Ron, Molly and Ginny had across the continent to a banshee colony in the mountains of Morocco. It's the largest colony of those magical creatures in the world!"
"And they made Mum their queen!" declared Ron, his voice sounding closer to normal because of McGonagall's spell. "The feathered women shouted and bellowed when we got up, but Mum bellowed back and threatened them to shut up! And suddenly, Ginny was shouting just as loud as Mum!"
"Huh?" asked Harry and Hermione while Fred and George frowned.
Arthur sighed and didn't explain. Ron looked at the floor and continued, "Mum hid her ancestry. Her mum – our Grandmother Prewitt – was the half breed daughter of the banshee queen and a deaf wizard from Ireland."
Arthur continued, "Molly's grandmother died a few years ago and the banshees had looked for their new queen ever since. Their magical calling for her brought Molly and our children to Morocco when the floo explosion grabbed them."
"How did that work?" asked the inquisitive Hermione Granger.
Fred replied, "The banshees must have cast magical calls with sticky charms to capture their queen if she came close. When the floo explosion pulled Mum, Ginny and Ron into the powerful green flames and they were grabbed by the banshee magic."
"They probably wouldn't have survived if the banshee magic hadn't been there," George concluded.
Her face threatening an explosion of questions, Hermione remained silent when McGonagall hissed at her. "Later, Miss Granger! Later!"
The stern professor stared at the twins as she explained, "The Mister Weasleys apparently understand charms theory better than they have led the staff to believe."
"Bugger," George and Fred both muttered to have their knowledge revealed to a professor.
"Anyway, the banshees were all over Mum and Ginny and gave them rich robes and jewels!" Ron continued. "The women called them 'Queen Molly' and 'Princess Ginevra'! Mum was crowned that same afternoon and Ginny had a crown to wear too."
"Are you a prince now?" asked Harry.
"No," growled Ron, his usual temper rising to the surface. "The banshees got no use for sons. They have what they want with Mum and Ginny."
Minerva looked at Arthur and asked, "What does this mean?"
The man sighed and replied, "My wife and daughter will remain in Morocco. Molly is queen of the Banshees around the world now and Ginny will be their princess. We won't see them again."
Minerva McGonagall called on fifty years of maintaining a stern expression to not snort aloud when Arthur Weasley stated his wife had become the 'queen of the banshees.' There'd been comments about banshee blood in the Prewitt witch during her years as a student at Hogwarts. With the number of howler letters the woman had sent her children while they were at Hogwarts, everyone in Britain would easily believe the news about the witch becoming queen of the banshees.
Glancing at Ron, Arthur added, "And my sons no longer qualify as purebloods. They are half-breeds."
Quickly doing the math in her head, "It's only 1/8 Banshee, Mr Weasley. That's not a lot of blood from the…from them."
"No. A single drop of creature blood is enough," Arthur said. "My grandfather will disown me and my sons before nightfall. He's adamant about Weasley's staying pure bloods."
Ron's voice was loud again when he said, "I don't want to be a half breed! Look how bad Flitwick has it!"
"Mr Weasley, Professor Flitwick is the most respected duellist in Europe! No one dares to make a disparaging comment about his ancestry!" McGonagall insisted.
"Not to his face," Ron complained.
Harry said, "Ron, it'll work out. At least you're alive."
"So, who died?" asked Ron as the crowd returned to the Great Hall. When Fred told him that Draco Malfoy had died, Ron managed to hold back the urge to cheer.
Arthur left to contact his older sons with the news that their mother was queen of the banshees, their sister was the princess, and he expected for his father to disown them. He hoped that Percy was able to hide his ancestry using the name Weatherby. Crouch and Diggory were fair men.
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EpilogueThe school year for 1994-1995 was quiet and pleasant once the ear shattering outbursts of Ron Weasley were resolved. When Ron discovered that his friends had become friends with students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, his bellows echoed around the Great Hall. (Madam Pomphrey examined Ron and diagnosed two problems that contributed to his loud voice. First, his ear drums had been damaged by the booming voices of the flock of banshees in Morocco. Second, exposure to the banshees caused his banshee ancestry to activate in his body – that explained the booming voice that Ginny had developed immediately after arrival in the flock and Molly's always loud voice had only gotten louder.)
The mixed study groups began to meet in the library where Madam Pince barred Ron NoName from entering her chambers. The news that Lord Weasley had disowned his grandson, Arthur Weasley, and all his children because of the banshee blood in the children's veins arrived in the castle via the Daily Prophet. Fred, George, and Ron NoName were not openly ostracized by anyone though there were a few people who turned away from their company.
Professor Filius Flitwick spoke to the twins (though Ron refused to listen) about how to deal with the prejudices of their classmates. He urged them to excel in their studies to 'make a name' for themselves.
Bill and Charlie NoName approached their great aunt, Muriel Prewitt, who immediately welcomed the NoName children to use the Prewitt name. Percy and Arthur slipped under the Pureblood radar and used the Weatherby name.
Ron Prewitt rebelled against everything and before Halloween, he attacked Susan Bones after the young witch told him to leave their study group alone. Despite the objection of Albus Dumbledore, Ron was expelled by the castle herself.
Fred and George Prewitt heard from Bill Prewitt that Ron refused to study and wanted to just lay about the apartment Arthur shared with Percy near the ministry. Determined that Ron would learn to work, Arthur got his son a job in the kitchen at the Leaky Cauldron, but Ron resented spending his days washing dishes like a muggle and was arrested for muggle baiting on the streets of London. The fourteen-year-old wizard vanished into the DMLE cells and was never heard from again. (The DMLE bound Ron's magic bound and wiped his memories before dumping boy near a homeless shelter for teenagers.)
Harry Potter excelled in the Hogwarts that didn't have Draco Malfoy or Ron Prewitt (Weasley). He made friends in all houses and joined in the exchange of ideas and knowledge. Hermione Granger discovered that she enjoyed dialogue with the brainy witches and wizards from Ravenclaw. She ignored hints and whispers from Headmaster Dumbledore that Harry Potter had a destiny to fulfil for Magical Britain.
Before Yule 1994, Sirius Black recovered from his years in Hogwarts enough to claim guardianship of his godson, Harry Potter. With support of Andromeda Tonks (nee Black), Sirius would take custody of Harry during the winter break.
Minerva McGonagall realized she was stretched too thin with all the positions she held at Hogwarts. Before Christmas, Minerva gave up being head of Gryffindor House, and appointed Professor Charity Babbage to take the role. Benefiting from closer contact with the muggleborn students in Gryffindor, Babbage began to update her materials for Muggle Studies.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore found himself marginalized in the Wizengamot where few members were interested in his opinions. And at Hogwarts, he was regulated to administrative duties, and ignored when he worried about the mixing of students from all four houses.
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