Chapter 473: The Irritable Tonks
Chapter 473: The Irritable Tonks
Early the next morning, everyone stood outside the shabby residence, preparing to head to King's Cross Station.
Soon, a blue car approached from a distance.
Normally, the Ministry's vehicles were in high demand, but upon learning that Harry was also present, Cornelius Fudge immediately ordered the best car to be dispatched.
This was probably a gesture of gratitude for Harry's cooperation.
After returning from the Ministry that day, Harry had stayed at the residence without revealing anything about the assassination attempt he had faced. This spared the Ministry a lot of trouble.
In return, borrowing a car to go to the station was a trivial matter, and Fudge had no reason to refuse.
Additionally, this arrangement provided added security.
They had confirmed that the Ministry employee who attempted to assassinate Harry was indeed under the Imperius Curse. To prevent any further incidents before Harry returned to Hogwarts, Fudge had even assigned an Auror to serve as the driver.
However, this particular Auror didn't seem very reliable.
Tonks, with her fiery red hair, was clearly in a foul mood. Throughout the journey, she didn't stop talking, either cursing people or the car, and even Bill, sitting next to her, wasn't spared for not joining in on cursing a pedestrian who had jaywalked.
Ginny, sitting behind Tonks, hugged her arms and trembled, afraid to even breathe loudly, fearing that Tonks might include her in her tirade.
The start of a new school year wasn't something to be happy about, and with such a hot-tempered driver, the car remained eerily quiet throughout the journey.
Fortunately, half an hour later, they finally arrived at King's Cross Station.
Tonks was the first to get out of the car, and in the instant she opened the door, her hair transformed from red to a vibrant bubblegum pink.
"We're here," she said, patting the car door and smiling. "Get out and make sure you have all your luggage. Don't forget anything."
Everyone got out of the car without a word, retrieved their luggage from the trunk, and quickly made their way into the station.
During the entire journey, not a single person spoke, including Fred and George, who were usually noisy and mischievous.
It wasn't until they walked through the wall and entered Platform 9 that Fred finally heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Merlin's beard, I'll never ride in Tonks' car again, never!"
"If there's a next time, I'd rather walk from home!" George added.
The others nodded in agreement.
"Come on, let's go," Mrs. Weasley said from the side. "Tonks is a good person... of course, as long as she's not driving." She silently added a thought to herself.
This was the first time Mrs. Weasley had realized how irritable Tonks became when driving; it was as if she had transformed into a different person.
On several occasions, she had wanted to remind Tonks to be mindful of her image, but she couldn't find an opportunity to speak up. When she finally managed to say something, Tonks, still in a foul mood, didn't hear her.
In the end, Mrs. Weasley could only sigh silently and pretend she hadn't heard anything.
On the platform, the Hogwarts Express was already waiting.
"Ah, I really wish I could go back to Hogwarts this year," Bill said, his hands in his pockets, gazing at the deep red train with a hint of melancholy.
"Why..." George asked.
"You'll have an exciting year," Bill said, his eyes sparkling. "I might even take a leave of absence to watch a part of it..."
"A part of what..." Fred was getting impatient.
This had been the case since the start of the vacation—Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, and everyone else had been acting mysteriously.
But no matter how much Fred asked, Bill only smiled and remained silent.
Kyle knew this was another wizard's mischievous sense of humor, similar to the Sorting ceremony for new students... the so-called surprise.
Hmph, it's just the Triwizard Tournament, no big deal... So, when George looked at him, he shrugged and said, "Don't look at me, I don't know either."
Just then, the departure whistle blew.
They quickly boarded the train and leaned out the window to talk to Mrs. Weasley and Bill.
"Thank you for letting us stay, Mrs. Weasley!" Cho said, waving.
"Oh, I'm happy to, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "I wanted to invite you to spend Christmas with us, but...I guess you won't want to because...well, for various reasons."
Ron wanted to ask more, but the train had already started moving, and his words were drowned out by the whistle.
Mrs. Weasley waved goodbye with a smile, and before the train turned, she and Bill apparated away.
Kyle and the others returned to their compartment, where Fred and George were complaining about everyone keeping them in the dark.
Cedric's lips twitched, and he turned his face away to hide his laughter. Clearly, he knew something, but he wasn't going to tell them either.
Actually, seeing Fred and George like this was quite amusing.
After the train had traveled for a while, it started raining again. The dense raindrops pattered against the windows, making it difficult to see the scenery outside.
"Where's Cona?"
At this moment, Cho suddenly asked, "Didn't she get on the train?"
"I think she's in another compartment," Cedric said, looking at Kyle. "Come on, take it out. We should go too."
"Take out what...?" Fred asked subconsciously.
Then he saw Kyle take an envelope out of his pocket.
"Ding!"
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As Kyle opened the envelope, a round object fell onto the table.
"Oh, damn!" Fred and George's faces turned even more unpleasant, as if they had eaten a handful of liver-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
They were all too familiar with this object; Percy had shown it off countless times in the past two years.
Head Prefect Badge!
"Oh, we have another Head Prefect among us, great..." George said, dragging out his words.
"No, it should be two," Cho said with a smile, pinning her Head Prefect badge onto her robe.
Fred and George's faces turned liver-colored.
The two had always believed and firmly held that they would never want to be Head Prefects in their lives, but now this idea was shaken.
Who would have thought that among the six of them, everyone except for Fred and George would become Head Prefects?
This was a bit too much, right? Would they still be able to play together?
But it didn't end there. Kyle and the others seemed to be showing off, wearing their Head Prefect badges and parading in front of them for a while, refusing to leave.
Fred and George were so angry that they immediately grabbed their bags and pushed open the compartment door to find Li Hua.
Head Prefects were so amazing, weren't they? Why couldn't they just leave?
The compartment immediately erupted in a burst of happy laughter.
"Was what we did a bit too much?" Cho asked quietly.
"Don't worry, they're not that petty," Kyle said, patting his suitcase. "Plus, I have a way to make them forget today's unpleasantness and willingly call us Head Prefects."
The three of them laughed as they left the compartment and headed towards the front Head Prefect carriage.
As expected, Cona was there, and upon seeing Kyle and Cho, she immediately relaxed, having been tense before.
"Why did it take you so long to come?" she asked.
"Of course, it was to give Fred and George a surprise," Kyle said Kyle. "You really should have come with us; it would have been more complete that way."
"What?" Cona didn't understand.
Cho stepped forward and whispered something to her, and soon, Cona couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Aren't you afraid they'll change your badge to 'Big Head Boy' too?" Cona said, "Just like Percy."
"I'm not afraid," Kyle waved his hand confidently. "They won't have the chance."
...
(End of Chapter)
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