FINITE | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [4]

𝘅𝗶𝗶𝗶 | 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆

Mr Weasley and Percy spent most of the following week out of the house. They both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up and returned well after dinner every night.

Percy had taken to importantly telling them news from the Ministry; the Ministry had been receiving Howler after Howler from wizards complaining about how the incident at the World Cup had been handled and claiming compensation.

'Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve bedroomed tent with an en suite Jacuzzi,' Percy was telling them on the Sunday night before they returned to Hogwarts, 'but I know for a fact that he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks.'

Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four, Ginny was in front of the fire, mending the binding of her Herbology textbook with some sellotape. Charlie was fireproofing a balaclava and Harry was polishing his Firebolt with Ron. Gwen was writing a letter to Lucille, filling her in on what had happened at the Cup. She strategically avoided mentioning Winky; Lucille cared deeply for the house elves in their own home, and Gwen couldn't bring herself to tell Lucille about Winky. She had already sent a letter to Eddie and Felix each, filling them in and pleading with them not to tell Lucille.

Mrs Weasley had been looking at the clock on the wall, the Weasley clock with hands that represented each of the Weasley family. Mr Weasley's was still pointed at 'work'. She turned to look out at the rest of them, and spotted Fred and George who were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.

'What are you two up to?' she said sharply.

'Homework,' said Fred vaguely.

'Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday,' said Mrs Weasley.

'Yeah, we've left it a bit late,' said George.

'You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?' said Mrs Weasley shrewdly. 'You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?'

'Now, Mum,' said Fred, looking up at her, a pained 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 father's coming!' she said suddenly, looking back up at the clock. The hand suddenly spun from 'work' to 'travelling' and then a second later, it halted at 'home'.

They heard his voice in the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley rushed from the room and returned a moment later with Mr Weasley at her side, who was now carrying his dinner tray, looking utterly exhausted.

'Well, the fat's really in the fire now,' he said, slumping down into an armchair by the fire. 'Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess ups and now she's found out about poor Bertha going missing. 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 lucky that Rita hasn't found out about Winky,' said Mr Weasley. 'There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark.'

'I thought we had all agreed that the elf didn't conjure the Mark?' said Percy.

'If you ask me, Mr Crouch is lucky no one at the Ministry has found out how he treats elves!' said Hermione hotly, suddenly looking up from her book.

'Now, look here, Hermione!' said Percy. 'A high ranking Ministry official like Mr Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants--!'

'His slave, you mean!' Hermione said, her voice raised. 'Because he didn't pay Winky, did he?'

'I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!' said Mrs Weasley, breaking up the argument. 'Come now, all of you...'

Gwen carefully collected up her letter and went with Hermione and Ginny to Ginny's room. Back in the room, Hermione was still ranting about the mistreatment of elves.

'Honestly!' she was saying, as the girls packed up their freshly laundered clothes. 'It's as though they have no rights! Mr Crouch was vile to poor Winky. Ginny, you should have seen her, the poor thing was beside herself!'

'It was awful to see,' Gwen said, packing her folded clothes into her trunk. 'I just wanted to hug her.'

'Good riddance for Winky,' Hermione said hotly. 'She shouldn't be treated that way, Rita Skeeter should do an article on him and how he treated her!'

'That wouldn't be the focus if Rita Skeeter got hold of it,' Gwen said sadly. 'She'd slaughter Winky, and Mr Crouch, if she found out.'

'Awful,' Hermione was uttering, 'truly horrible.'

The girls continued to pack their trunks among idle chatter, when Mrs Weasley came in with more fresh laundry.

'Here you go, girls,' she said, 'You're all at least more grateful than Ron.'

She shut the bedroom door behind her with a snap, leaving the girls to wonder what she was talking about.

'What's this?' Ginny said, holding up a periwinkle dress that lay on top of Hermione's pile of clothes.

'Oh,' said Hermione, 'dress robes. They were on the school list this year.'

Ginny reached to her bedside table and scanned her Hogwarts letter. 'They're not on mine.'

Gwen peered over Ginny's shoulder. 'They were on mine too,' she said. 'Mum took me and Lucille shopping to get some last month. I had to get two sets.'

Enola Everill rarely took her daughters shopping, but earlier on in the summer, she had treated both Gwen and Lucille to a visit to a specialist wizarding tailor. Gwen had to go through the process twice, once for her outfit for Eddie's Graduation Ball, and a second time for the set she'd be wearing at Hogwarts.

'Why do you need dress robes at Hogwarts?' Ginny asked.

'Mum wouldn't say,' Gwen told her.

Hermione shrugged. 'The letter doesn't say, though I suppose there is probably some kind of event going on.'

'An event?' Gwen said, chucking her books on top of her clothes.

'Probably. I can't think why else we'd need them.'

'Percy's been going on about something at Hogwarts all summer,' Ginny said, carefully stacking parchment into her trunk. 'Maybe it's to do with that.'

'Maybe,' Gwen murmured.

Just then, a small bang came from Fred and George's room.

'Merlin, they're at it again,' Ginny laughed.

Before long, they were all completely packed, trunks and bags stacked against the wall and, eventually, with the rain pounding against the window, they all drifted off to sleep, ready for their return to Hogwarts.