Chapter 454: Connor's Reply
Chapter 454: Connor's Reply
On Friday, the day before the start of the Quidditch World Cup, a sleek new car pulled into the village of St. Catchpole.
Hermione had arrived.
Mrs. Weasley had intended to fetch her, but Mr. Granger thought it would be an inconvenience, so he sent Hermione directly to the address provided in the letter.
Out of gratitude, he also brought an abundance of oral care kits as gifts.
"Oh, what a beautiful car..." Mr. Weasley gazed admiringly at the silver sedan that Mr. Granger had driven.
Ever since Ron had accidentally misplaced his old Ford, Mrs. Weasley had strictly forbidden him from buying another one.
So, he could only feast his eyes on it now, circling the car and occasionally crouching down to examine the treads on the tires.
Mr. Granger, however, was accustomed to such behavior, and thoughtfully handed over the car keys to him.
There was nothing unusual about it; when he had first encountered the wizarding world, his reaction hadn't been much better than Mr. Weasley's.
Mrs. Weasley also came out to invite Mr. Granger to stay for lunch, but he declined, shaking his head, as he had an appointment with another patient soon.
Being a dentist, Mr. Weasley found the profession intriguing, and after Mr. Granger's departure, he busied himself with examining the oral care kits.
Mrs. Weasley, on the other hand, called out to Ginny to show Hermione around their humble home.
Hermione, encountering a wizarding family for the first time, found everything fascinating, a stark contrast to her experiences at school.
In the afternoon, Cedric and Qiu also arrived, adding to the crowd in the Weasley home. Fred and George remarked that they had never felt their house so full.
Kyle had written to Connor, inquiring if she would like to join them as well.
However, when Raton returned, he brought only a brief reply agreeing to meet at the site the next day and a small vial containing a blue potion.
It was a toxic magical potion often used to eradicate household pests.
...
Around five in the afternoon, Mr. Weasley prepared to fetch Harry, the last one on the list, as he had to prepare dinner, and the task of picking him up fell to him.
"Dad, can we come with you?" Fred and George volunteered eagerly.
They had rushed back from Kyle's house upon learning that they were going to pick up Harry.
"Alright," Mr. Weasley agreed, but then added with a thoughtful frown, "But no mischief. That family doesn't like wizards, and we mustn't cause any trouble for Harry."
"I don't think things can get any worse for him," Fred muttered under his breath.
They had first-hand knowledge of Harry's situation, having picked him up before.
However, Mr. Weasley didn't catch this comment as he was busy tossing Floo powder into the fireplace.
Prior to this, he had submitted a request to the Floo Network Authority to temporarily connect the Dursleys' fireplace to the Floo Network, citing the reason as picking someone up.
Although the Ministry of Magic prohibited the connection of Muggle fireplaces to the Floo Network, Mr. Weasley had many friends, including someone from the Floo Network Authority.
Thus, his request was swiftly granted, albeit for a short duration of only ten minutes.
Kyle didn't know what to make of the fact that they used Floo powder for picking Harry up when they had used owls to send the invitations.
If he had to choose between the two, he felt that the Dursleys would likely prefer receiving letters by owl rather than having someone suddenly appear in their fireplace.
Nonetheless, he didn't try to stop them, as the agreed-upon time was five o'clock, and they had less than ten minutes left.
This wasn't enough time to travel there by any conventional means, and using Floo powder was preferable to Apparating, which could be even more unnerving for the Dursleys.
"Make it quick; we only have ten minutes!"
Once the flames in the fireplace turned green, Mr. Weasley stepped in first, loudly announcing Harry's address.
Fred and George followed suit and stepped into the fireplace one after the other.
Ron wanted to go as well, but Mrs. Weasley grabbed him by the collar.
"Don't all go at once; that family doesn't like wizards."
Hearing this, Hermione, who had been eager to experience Floo powder, immediately halted her steps.
Five minutes later, Fred returned first.
He excitedly made his way over to Kyle and whispered, "As I was leaving, I dropped a bag of sweets and left one piece unclaimed..."
At that moment, George and Harry appeared as well.
"Did he eat it?" Fred asked eagerly, reaching out to pull Harry up.
"He did." Harry stood up. "What was it...?"
"Bubblegum." Fred explained animatedly, "It was your idea, actually. All summer, we've been looking for someone to test it on..."
The small kitchen erupted in laughter.
Harry also breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, when he saw Dudley uncontrollably float up to the roof, he thought he had accidentally inflated him again, just like what happened to Aunt Marge last year.
Harry then looked around and greeted everyone.
Charlie and Bill were also quite curious about him.
They had only heard about the boy who lived, and this was their first time meeting him in person.
Soon, the fire in the fireplace died down.
"Mr. Weasley hasn't come out yet!" Hermione said anxiously.
"Don't worry." Ron waved his hand dismissively. "Dad will manage something..."
Before Ron could finish his sentence, there was a soft crack, and Mr. Weasley suddenly appeared next to George, looking furious.
"This is no joke, Fred!" he shouted. "What did you give that Muggle boy?"
"I didn't give him anything." Fred smirked. "I just accidentally spilled it on the ground, and he picked it up and ate it... It's not my fault.
If he had intended to return the candy to me, nothing would have happened, right?"
"You deliberately made him pick it up!" Mr. Weasley knew his son too well. "You know he's on a diet... He definitely would have eaten it!"
"Did he really fly?" George asked eagerly.
"All the way up to the ceiling!"
Harry and the Weasley brothers burst into laughter once more.
"This is not a laughing matter!" Mr. Weasley admonished them. "Such behavior seriously damages the relationship between wizards and Muggles. You shouldn't..."
"This has nothing to do with him being a Muggle!" Fred exclaimed indignantly.
"It's because he's always bullying Harry." George added, "And that family doesn't even feed him properly!"
"Yeah!" Harry agreed, nodding seriously.
To make Dudley, who was on a diet, feel better about himself, he was only allowed to eat a small, pitiful grapefruit at each meal. Aunt Petunia seemed to believe that the best way to boost Dudley's morale was to ensure he ate more than Harry.
Even so, his meager portions were often snatched away by Dudley. If it weren't for Ron and Hermione regularly sending him food, Harry didn't know how he would have survived this past month.
"That's not the point," Mr. Weasley continued, still somewhat irritated. "Your actions were wrong in themselves, and they will take it out on Harry. You're making trouble for him."
"It's fine, Mr. Weasley." Harry shrugged, indicating that he didn't mind.
Whether or not this incident happened, his aunt and uncle would never like him, especially after he inflated Aunt Marge last year. Oh well...
(End of Chapter)
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