The Granger Twins

Chapter 23

A few weeks ago Selena and Hermione had gotten an urgent owl from Harry telling them that his cousin was recommended a diet by his school's nurse, so his aunt was making his family all follow it.

They had told their parents before going to the shops and getting as much sugar free candy, wizarding and muggle, as would fit in a large box without injuring Hazel. As soon as the twins got home, they stuffed the box and sent hazel on her way.

Back in the present, the doorbell rang. Selena heard talking at the door, and someone laughing, and her dad answering hastily. Then the front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper came from the hall. Then Mr Granger read it aloud.

Dear Mr and Mrs Granger,

We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from your daughters about my son Ron.

As Selena and Hermione might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

I do hope you will allow us to take Selena and Hermione to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would, of course, be glad to have Selena and Hermione stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see them safely onto the train back to school.

It would be best for Selena and Hermione to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is.

Hoping to see Selena and Hermione soon,

Yours sincerely,

Molly Weasley

P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on.

He put down the envelope in which Mrs Weasley's letter had come, and the Granger family shared a laugh. Every bit of it was covered in stamps except for a square inch on the front, into which Mrs Weasley had squeezed the Granger's address in minute writing.

"She did put enough stamps on, then," said Selena, which set everyone off again.

"The postman noticed," he said wiping his eyes. "Very interested to know where this letter came from, he was. That's why he rang the doorbell. Also thought it was funny."

After breakfast, the girls took the stairs three at a time and excitedly walked back into their bedroom.

The first thing Selena saw was that Hazel was back. She was sitting in her cage, staring at the girls with her enormous almost-black eyes, and clicking her beak in the way that meant she was annoyed about something. Exactly what was annoying her became apparent almost at once.

"Ouch!" said Selena as what appeared to be a small, grey, feathery tennis ball collided with the side of her head. Selena massaged the spot slightly angrily, looking up to see what had hit her, and saw a minute owl, small enough to fit into the palm of her hand, whizzing excitedly around the room like a loose firework. Selena then realized that the owl had dropped a letter in between the girls' feet. Hermione bent down, recognized Ron's handwriting, then tore open the envelope. Inside was a hastily scribbled note.

Hermione, Selena - DAD GOT THE TICKETS - Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum's writing to the Muggles to ask you to stay. They might already have the letter, I don't know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway.

Selena and Hermione stared at the word "Pig," then looked up at the tiny owl now zooming around the light fixture on the ceiling. They had never seen anything that looked less like a pig. Maybe they couldn't read Ron's writing. The twins went back to the letter: