Chapter 10 Mayhem at the Ministry

Mr. Weasley woke them by and by only a few hours sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and they go forth the gangsite as pronto as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the accession of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed date ab come forth him, and he waved them absent with a vague Merry Christmas.Hell be every right, tell Mr. Weasley quietly as they marched off onto the moor. Some dates, when a persons memorys modified, it gain grounds him a bit disorientated for a enchantmentand that was a big thing they had to make him forget.They heard urgent expresss as they approached the situation where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, they found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, all in all(a) clamoring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with Basil they joined the queue, and were adequate to(p) to take an old rubber tire bum to Stoatshead Hill i n advance the sun had really risen. They walked back through and through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp track toward the Burrow in the dawn light, talking very little because they were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.Oh thank goodness, thank goodnessMrs. Weasley, who had evidently been postponement for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her introduce pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily vaticinator clutched in her hand.Arthur Ive been so worried so worried -She flung her arms around Mr. Weasleys neck, and the Daily Prophet fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, elicit aphorism the headline SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with a gleaming black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops.Youre all right, Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, relinqu ish Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes, youre alive.Oh boysAnd to everybodys surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.Ouch Mum youre strangling us -I shouted at you onward you left Mrs. Weasley verbalize, starting to sob. Its all Ive been thinking about What if You-K straightaway-Who had got you, and the termination thing I ever state to you was that you didnt get enough OW.L.s? Oh FredGeorgeCome on, straightway, Molly, were all perfectly okay, verbalise Mr. Weasley soothingly, prising her off the twins and leading her back toward the house. charge up, he added in an undertone, pick up that paper, I exigency to see what it saysWhen they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a scissure of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey, Bill handed his bring the unseasonedspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned t he front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.I knew it, give tongue to Mr. Weasley heavily. Ministry blundersculprits not apprehendedlax trade protectionDark wizards running uncheckednational disgrace.Who wrote this? Ahof courseRita Skeeter.That womans got it in for the Ministry of Magic express Percy furiously. Last week she was saying were wasting our time quibbling about caldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires As if it wasnt specifically verbalize in paragraph cardinal of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans -Do us a favor, Perce, utter Bill, yawning, and shut up.Im distinguished, tell Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening behind his supply as he reached the bottom of the Daily Prophet article.Where? spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea and whiskey. If Id seen that, Id stimulate known you were aliveNot by name, express Mr. Weasley. Listen to this If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the woodland expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry prescribed emerged whatever time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nil had been hurt, but refusing to give every more than information. Whether this mastery will be enough to quash the rumors that some(prenominal) bodies were take away from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen..Oh really, express Mr. Weasley in exasperation, handing the paper to Percy. Nobody was hurt. What was I speculate to say? Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woodswell, there certainly will be rumors now shes printed that.He heaved a deep sigh. Molly, Im issue to nonplus to go into the military post this is going to take some smoothing over.Ill come with you, Father, express Percy importantly. Mr. Crouch will neediness all workforce on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person.He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked most u pset.Arthur, youre supposed to be on holiday This hasnt got boththing to do with your office surely they can report this without you?Ive got to go, Molly, said Mr. Weasley. Ive made things worse. Ill bonnie change into my robes and Ill be off.Mrs. Weasley, said plague of a sudden, unable to contain himself, Hedwig hasnt arrived with a letter for me, has she?Hedwig, dear? said Mrs. Weasley distractedly. Nono, there hasnt been any post at all.Ron and Hermione looked curiously at chivy. With a meaningful look at both of them he said, exclusively right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron? yeahthink I will too, said Ron at once. Hermione?Yes, she said quickly, and the three of them marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs.Whats up, Harry? said Ron, the moment they had closed the introduction of the attic room behind them. theres something I havent told you, Harry said. On Saturday forenoon, I woke up with my scar hurting again.Rons and Hermiones reactions were almos t exactly as Harry had imagined them back in his bedroom on Privet Drive. Hermione gasped and started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from Albus Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. Ron simply looked dumbstruck. and he wasnt there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean final time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasnt he?Im sure he wasnt on Privet Drive, said Harry. But I was dreaming about himhim and Peter you know, Wormtail. I cant remember all of it now, but they were plotting to killsomeone.He had teetered for a moment on the brink of saying me, but couldnt bring himself to make Hermione look any more horrified than she already did.It was only a dream, said Ron bracingly. Just a nightm atomic number 18.Yeah, but was it, though? said Harry, turning to look out of the window at the brightening sky. Its weird, isnt it?My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemorts signs up i n the sky again.Dont say his name Ron hissed through gritted teeth.And remember what Professor Trelawney said? Harry went on, ignoring Ron. At the end of last year?Professor Trelawney was their Divination teacher at Hogwarts. Hermiones terrified look vanished as she let out a derisive snort.Oh Harry, you arent going to remuneration attention to anything that old fraud says?You werent there, said Harry. You didnt hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance a real one. And she said the Dark master key would rise againgreater and more terrible than ever beforeand hed manage it because his servant was going to go back to himand that night Wormtail escaped. on that point was a silence in which Ron fidgeted absentmindedly with a hole in his Chudley Cannons bedspread. wherefore were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry? Hermione asked. Are you expecting a letter?I told Sirius about my scar, said Harry, shcarpetging. Im waiting for his answer.Good thinking sa id Ron, his behavior clearing. I bet Siriusll know what to doI hoped hed get back to me quickly, said Harry.But we dont know where Sirius ishe could be in Africa or somewhere, couldnt he? said Hermione reasonably. Hedwigs not going to manage that journey in a few days.Yeah, I know, said Harry, but there was a leaden feeling in his stomach as he looked out of the window at the Hedwig-free sky.Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry said Ron. Come on three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play.You can try out the Wronski Feint.Ron, said Hermione, in an I-dont-think-youre-being-very-sensitive sort of voice, Harry doesnt want to play Quidditch right now.Hes worried, and hes tired.We all need to go to bedYeah, I want to play Quidditch, said Harry suddenly. Hang on, Ill get my Firebolt.Hermione left the room, murmur vowel something that sounded very such(prenominal) like Boys.Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and re dour well after dinner every night.Its been an unattackable uproar, Percy told them importantly the Sunday eveing before they were due to return to Hogwarts. Ive been p twist out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you dont decipherable a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my outperform quill reduced to cinders.Why are they all sending Howlers? asked Ginny, who was repair her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.Complaining about bail at the World Cup, said Percy. They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletchers coiffure in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but Ive got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks.Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. Harry liked this clock. I t was completely useless if you wanted to know the time, but differently very informative. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley familys names. There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. Home, school, and carry were there, but there was also traveling, lost, hospital, prison, and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, mortal peril.Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the home position, but Mr. Weasleys, which was the longest, was still pointing to work. Mrs. Weasley sighed.Your father hasnt had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You-Know-Who, she said. Theyre working him far too hard. His dinners going to be ruined if he doesnt come home soon.Well, Father feels hes got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesnt he? said Percy. If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of D epartment first -Dont you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote said Mrs. Weasley, flaring up at once.If dada hadnt said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented, said Bill, who was playing chess with Ron. Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts go Breakers once, and called me a long-haired pillock?Well, it is a bit long, dear, said Mrs. Weasley gently. If youd just let me -No, Mum.Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in The Standard hold up of Spells, site 4, copies of which Mrs. Weasley had bought for her, Harry, and Ron in Diagon Alley. Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Harry was shining his Firebolt, the broom handle servicing kit Hermione had given him for his thirteenth birthday open at his feet. Fred and George were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a p iece of parchment.What are you two up to? said Mrs. Weasley sharply, her eyes on the twins.Homework, said Fred vaguely.Dont be ridiculous, youre still on holiday, said Mrs. Weasley.Yeah, weve left it a bit late, said George.Youre not by any chance writing out a new articulate form, are you? said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. You wouldnt be thinking of restarting Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?Now, Mum, said Fred, feel up at her, a hurt look on his face. If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley.Oh your fathers orgasm she said suddenly, looking up at the clock again.Mr. Weasleys hand had suddenly spun from work to traveling a second later it had shuddered to a period on home with the others, and they heard him calling from the kitchen.Coming, Arthur called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out of the room.A few moments later, Mr. Weas ley came into the warm living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.Well, the fats really in the fire now, he told Mrs. Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his somewhat shriveled cauliflower. Rita Skeeters been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now shes found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so thatll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago.Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks, said Percy swiftly.Crouch is very happy Rita hasnt found out about Winky, said Mr. Weasley irritably. Thered be a weeks worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the baton that conjured the Dark Mark.I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark? said Percy hotly.If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves said Hermione angrily.Now look here, Hermione said Percy. A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants -His slave, you mean said Hermione, her voice rising passionately, because he didnt pay Winky, did he?I think youd all better go upstairs and check that youve packed properly said Mrs. Weasley, breaking up the argument. Come on now, all of you.Harry repacked his broomstick servicing kit, put his Firebolt over his shoulder, and went back upstairs with Ron. The rain sounded even louder at the top of the house, accompanied by loud whistlings and moans from the wind, not to mention sporadic howls from the ghoul who lived in the attic. Pigwidgeon began twittering and zooming around his cage when they entered. The sight of the half-packed underdrawers seemed to have sent him into a frenzy of excitement.Bung him some bird of night Treats, said Ron, throwing a packet across to Harry. It might shut him up.Harry poked a few Owl Treats through the bars of Pigwidgeons cage, then turned to his trunk. Hedwigs cage stood next to it, still empty.Its been over a week, Harry said, looking at Hedwigs deserted perch. Ron, you dont reckon Sirius has been caught, do you?Nah, it wouldve been in the Daily Prophet, said Ron. The Ministry would want to show theyd caught someone, wouldnt they?Yeah, I suppose.Look, heres the stuff Mum got for you in Diagon Alley. And shes got some gold out of your vault for youand shes washed all your socks.He heaved a pile of parcels onto Harrys camp bed and dropped the money bag and a load of socks next to it. Harry started unwrapping the shopping. Apart from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, by Miranda Goshawk, he had a handful of new quills, a twelve rolls of parchment, and refills for his potion-making kit he had been running low on spine of lionfish and internality of belladonna. He was just piling underwear into his cauldron when Ron made a loud noise of disgust behin d him.What is that supposed to be?He was holding up something that looked to Harry like a long, maroon smooth dress. It had a moldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs.There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes.Here you are, she said, form them into two piles. Now, mind you pack them properly so they dont crease.Mum, youve given me Ginnys new dress, said Ron, handing it out to her.Of course I havent, said Mrs. Weasley. Thats for you. Dress robes.What? said Ron, looking horror-struck.Dress robes repeated Mrs. Weasley. It says on your school advert that youre supposed to have dress robes this yearrobes for formal occasions.Youve got to be kidding, said Ron in disbelief. Im not wearing that, no way.Everyone wears them, Ron said Mrs. Weasley crossly. Theyre all like that Your fathers got some for smart partiesIll go starkers before I put that on, said Ron stubbornly.Dont be so silly, said Mrs. W easley. Youve got to have dress robes, theyre on your list I got some for Harry tooshow him, Harry.In some trepidation, Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasnt as bad as he had expected, however his dress robes didnt have any lace on them at all in fact, they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were feeding bottle green instead of black.I thought theyd bring out the colouration of your eyes, dear, said Mrs. Weasley fondly.Well, theyre okay said Ron angrily, looking at Harrys robes. Why couldnt I have some like that?Becausewell, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasnt a lot of choice said Mrs. Weasley, flushing.Harry looked away. He would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but he knew they would never take it.Im never wearing them, Ron was saying stubbornly. Never.Fine, snapped Mrs. Weasley. Go naked. And, Harry, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh.She left the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a untrusting spluttering noise from behind them. Pigwidgeon was choking on an overlarge Owl Treat.Why is everything I own rubbish? said Ron furiously, striding across the room to unstick Pigwidgeons beak.