the muggle next door | f.w. golden trio era

↳ 3.07

daisy weasley

August 24th, 1994

"IT'S NOT AS though they haven't got brains," Mrs. Weasley kept on mumbling in irritation as she cooked, "They're wasting them. And unless they pull themselves together soon, they'll be in real trouble. I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest put together. If they carry on the way they're going, they'll end up in trial, in front of the Improper Use of Magic Office."

Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand at the cutlery drawer, which shot open. Harry and Ron jumped out of the way as several knives soared out of it, flew across the kitchen, and began chopping the potatoes.

"I don't know where we went wrong with them. It's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to— OH, NOT AGAIN!"

"C'mon," Ron said hurriedly to Harry, seizing a handful of cutlery from the open drawer, "Let's go and help Bill and Charlie."

They headed out the back door into the yard —together with Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, who was busy chasing gnomes around— then towards the garden, where another commotion was happening. Apparently, Bill and Charlie were engaged in a rather tense fight.

They were levitating two battered old tables high above the lawn with their wands, smashing them into each other in an attempt to knock the other's out of the air. Fred and George were cheering, Ginny was laughing, while Hermione and Daisy were hovering near the hedge, torn between amusement and anxiety.

Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang and knocked one of its legs off. There was a clatter from overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy's head poking out of a window on the second floor. He bellowed angrily, "Will you keep it down?!"

"Sorry, Perce," Bill said, "How's the report on cauldron bottoms coming on?"

"Not great," Percy said peevishly, and he slammed the window shut.

Chuckling, Charlie admitted the defeat of his table and the two directed the tables safely onto the grass. Bill reattached the table leg and conjured a tablecloth out of thin air.

By seven o'clock, the two tables were filled to the edges with dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking. The nine Weasleys, Daisy, Hermione, and Harry sat down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky. Chatters were issued all around the table.

"I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have my report ready by Tuesday. That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. It's extremely busy in our department just now, with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman—"

"I like Ludo," said Mr. Weasley, "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the Cup."

"Bagman's likeable enough, of course, but when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! You realize Bagman's department member, Bertha Jorkins, has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back? Why, Mr. Crouch would never let that slide."

"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that. I must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried."

"Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest. he worked in our department at one time, you know, but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map. However, we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. We've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup. You know, the top-secret one."