Chapter 454: Kanna’s Reply

Friday arrived, the day before the Quidditch World Cup. In the morning, a brand new car pulled into St. Catchpole Village—Hermione had arrived. Mrs. Weasley had offered to pick her up, but Mr. Granger had thought it was too much trouble, so he followed the address on the letter and drove Hermione himself. As a token of his appreciation, he brought along a bundle of oral care kits as a gift.

"Oh, what a beautiful car…" Mr. Weasley's eyes sparkled as he admired the silver sedan Mr. Granger drove. Ever since Ron had lost their old Ford, Mrs. Weasley had expressly forbidden Mr. Weasley from buying another car, so now he could only enjoy them from afar, circling the sedan and even crouching down to inspect the wheel patterns.

Mr. Granger was used to this kind of behavior by now and didn't mind, even handing Mr. Weasley the keys. After all, when he first encountered the wizarding world, he hadn't behaved much better himself.

Mrs. Weasley came out and invited Mr. Granger to stay for lunch, but he politely declined, saying he had another appointment with a client later. Mr. Granger was a dentist—a profession Mr. Weasley found endlessly fascinating. After he left, Mr. Weasley took the oral care kits and went off to study them with great interest.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley called Ginny over and asked her to show Hermione around The Burrow. It was Hermione's first time seeing a wizard's home, and she was utterly captivated by everything. The atmosphere was so different from school; it all felt distinctly magical and homely.

By afternoon, Cedric and Cho had arrived, adding to the group's numbers. As Fred and George noted, they had never seen the house so lively and crowded.

Kyle had written a letter to Kanna, inviting her to join them, but when his owl, Ratton, returned, it brought only a short reply saying she'd meet them at the match site the following day. Along with the note, Ratton carried a small bottle of a blueish potion—a poisonous mixture commonly used to get rid of household pests.

...

Around 5:00 p.m., Mr. Weasley prepared to pick up Harry. It was his turn, and he intended to make the trip while the others finished preparing dinner.

"Dad, can we come with you?" Fred and George volunteered. They'd rushed back from Kyle's house the moment they heard that someone was going to pick up Harry.

"All right," Mr. Weasley agreed, but after a moment of thought, he added, "No tricks. The family doesn't like wizards, and we don't want to get Harry into trouble."

"I don't think he could get into any worse trouble with them," Fred muttered, remembering their last encounter with the Dursleys.

Mr. Weasley didn't hear that, as he was busy throwing Floo powder into the fireplace. He had arranged through the Floo Network Authority to temporarily connect the Dursleys' fireplace to the Floo Network, specifically to pick up Harry. Although it was generally against Ministry policy to connect Muggle fireplaces, Mr. Weasley had friends in the right places, including some at the Floo Network Authority, and the application was swiftly approved—for a brief ten-minute window.

Knowing that Muggles used stamps for mail and that wizards used Floo powder to visit, Kyle didn't know whether to be amused or horrified. Given the choice, he figured the Dursleys would prefer an owl delivery over someone bursting out of their fireplace unannounced. But he didn't interfere; the designated pick-up time was 5:00 p.m., and with less than ten minutes left, they had little choice. Apparition might alarm the Dursleys even more.

"Hurry up! We only have ten minutes!" Mr. Weasley called.

As the flames in the fireplace turned green, he stepped forward and called out Harry's address, "4 Privet Drive!" The green flames shot up sharply, and Mr. Weasley vanished. Fred and George followed closely behind, stepping into the fireplace one after the other.

Ron moved to join them, but Mrs. Weasley held him back. "Not too big a group; that family doesn't like wizards," she reminded him.

Hearing this, Hermione, who had been excited to try the Floo Network, held back as well.

Five minutes later, Fred was the first to reappear.

As soon as Fred walked out of the fireplace, he hurried over to Kyle, whispering excitedly, "I tossed a bag of sweets when I left, and I made sure to leave one behind on purpose…"

At that moment, George and Harry arrived, emerging from the fireplace together.

"Did he eat it?" Fred asked eagerly, reaching out to help Harry up.

"Yes," Harry replied, getting to his feet. "But what was that...?"

"A balloon candy!" Fred grinned. "It was actually your idea, and we've been waiting all summer for someone to test it on…"

The small kitchen filled with laughter. Harry let out a sigh of relief—he had thought he'd blown Dudley up again when he saw him floating uncontrollably toward the ceiling, just like Aunt Marge last year.

Harry looked around and greeted everyone. Charlie and Bill, curious to meet him for the first time, greeted him as well. They had only heard about the Boy Who Lived and were eager to see him in person.

But soon, the fire in the fireplace died down.

"Mr. Weasley hasn't come out yet!" Hermione said nervously.

"Don't worry," Ron waved his hand, "Dad'll find a way..."

Ron hadn't even finished when a faint popping sound echoed, and Mr. Weasley suddenly appeared next to George, looking furious.

"This is no laughing matter, Fred!" he scolded. "What did you give that Muggle boy to eat?"

"I didn't give him anything," Fred replied with a wicked grin. "I just happened to 'accidentally' spill it on the floor, and he picked it up and ate it himself… so it's not my fault. If he'd handed the sweet back to me, nothing would've happened, right?"

"You did it on purpose!" Mr. Weasley snapped, knowing his son too well. "You know he's on a diet… of course he'd eat it!"

"Did he really fly?" George asked eagerly.

"All the way to the ceiling!" Mr. Weasley replied.

Harry and the Weasley brothers burst into laughter again.

"This isn't funny!" Mr. Weasley insisted, frowning. "This kind of behavior damages relations between wizards and Muggles. You shouldn't—"

"It has nothing to do with him being a Muggle!" Fred interrupted angrily.

"It's because he's always tormenting Harry," George added. "And that family won't even give him dinner!"

"Exactly!" Harry said earnestly. To make Dudley feel better about his own diet, Aunt Petunia gave Harry even smaller portions, often only a few miserable slices of grapefruit per meal. Dudley even stole food from Harry when he could. If it hadn't been for the food Ron and Hermione sent over the summer, Harry wasn't sure he'd have made it through the month.

"That's not the point. What you did was wrong," Mr. Weasley said, still irritated. "They'll take it out on Harry—you're only causing him trouble."

"It's all right, Mr. Weasley," Harry shrugged, showing he didn't mind. His aunt and uncle would never change their view of him—especially after he'd accidentally inflated Aunt Marge last year. To him, this was just another chapter in a long book. Whatever...