Family

My family?

Harry thought and thought, but he still couldn't quite picture the Dursley family coming to Hogwarts to visit him.

The Godfather? That's possible.

"You still have relatives living?"

Pabbie was standing next to him, asked.

Harry:?

He looked down at Pabbie and kicked her.

"Look at what you're saying, you're one of my family members too, are you no longer here?"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh." Pabbie uttered five "ohs" in a row, then shrank back, "I know who's here—you absolutely mustn't tell Veratia what I just said—please don't—"

"So you're scared now?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hehe!" Pabbie chuckled, looking cute, adorable, and innocent.

Harry didn't say anything more. He stood up, walked down the Great Hall corridor, and pushed open the door to the meeting room.

In a corner of the room, Viktor Krum, who had inherited his father's aquiline nose, spoke rapidly in Bulgaria with his dark-haired parents. Meanwhile, Phoebe chattered incessantly in French with her mother, while Phoebe little sister Gabrielle held her mother's hand.

She waved to Harry, and Harry waved back, grinning.

Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, smiling at him, and Sirius sitting not far away, elegantly reading a newspaper.

"You didn't expect that, did you!" Mrs. Weasley said enthusiastically.

Harry greeted him with a broad smile.

"We wanted to come watch your game, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley leaned down and kissed his cheek. "We wanted to come during the second game, but we just couldn't find the time."

"Oh, are you alright?" Bill smiled and shook hands with Harry. "Charlie wanted to come too, but he couldn't get away—he said your fight against the Tree Bee was so amazing, it was unbelievable. I really can't imagine a fourth-year student facing Fire Dragon head-on and defeating it. It's an impossible feat!"

Harry noticed Phoebe Delacour looking at Bill with interest over her mother's shoulder, and it was clear that she didn't dislike the long hair and the fanged earrings at all.

Pretty girls all like Bill —well, that type, Harry knows.

But what Harry didn't know was that it was like how rappers always target rebellious girls from vocational high schools.

"I suggest you don't be surprised, because there are more things that will surprise you later."

Sirius spoke to Bill without looking up, seemingly quite interested in the contents of the newspaper.

"I really didn't expect you guys to come watch my match," Harry said happily. "I know Sirius has been very busy lately, ha—heaven knows I thought it was the Dursley family for a moment."

"They won't come," Sirius said, looking down. "But your Uncle Big Pillar asked me to pass on a message to you."

I'm telling you to be careful, so you don't get killed by some weird trick.

"That sounds just like the Dursley family," Harry chuckled. "It's familiar; I've heard them say that all the time, though not in this euphemistic way."

"Yes, Muggle never know what manners are."

Sirius couldn't help but chuckle, saying that he had just recalled Vernon Dursley's awkward, blushing face when he said those words.

"But your aunt..."

As he spoke, Sirius pulled a photograph from his pocket and handed it to Harry. "This is from your aunt. It's a picture of your mother—she said she hopes your mother will keep you safe and sound."

Harry took the photo. It was a picture of his mother under a tree. She looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, with a bright and warm smile like a little sun.

He looked at the photo for a while, then put it in his pocket.

"I'll be safe," Harry said earnestly. "Don't worry, Sirius, I'll be fine."

"Oh," Sirius said, "I'm not worried about your safety. I just think the Magical Creatures that are put in the maze are going to be in big trouble—and, you know."

As he spoke, Sirius winked at Harry.

Harry knew that "Little Star" specifically referred to Voldemort.

"What else can I say?" he said, shrugging as he sat down in a chair nearby.

"Where's Veratia?" he asked Sirius again. "To be honest, I actually thought she would come."

"Didn't you read the newspaper?" Sirius asked, shaking the newspaper in his hand. "Oh my good godson, this is the biggest news of the day, you could say it's explosive news—"

Yes, Harry thought, it really was explosive. Pabbie, Hermione, and I all exploded.

"Of course I saw it," Harry said. "But that doesn't stop me from thinking about it, does it?"

"You're right," Sirius said, shrugging.

"Is it the news about Miss Grindelwald?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I saw it this morning too. Arthur even sprayed milk all over the newspaper—he never imagined that Miss Grindelwald would become Minister for Ministry of Magic at the young age of seventeen."

"Oh, it's not just Mr. Weasley," Harry said. "I sprayed Pumpkin Juice all over the newspaper when I saw the news." "She's really something." Bill looked around at the walls and chuckled. "Hey, it's good to be back—hey?"

Isn't that the Fat Lady? What's she doing here? Has she stopped guarding the gates for Gryffindor?

Following the direction Bill was pointing, Harry saw the Fat Lady waving at them from inside a framed picture of her girlfriend, Olette.

"Oh," Harry said, "The Fat Lady doesn't work the day shift. Sphinx watches the door during the day, and she only comes over at six o'clock."

"Sphinx?" Bill said with interest. "Oh, I remember now, those two troublemakers mentioned it to me. It's actually Egypt specialty."

Harry knew that Bill worked at Gringotts in Egypt, and that the Sphinx also appeared in Egypt mythology.

"The Fat Lady," Mrs. Weasley said with a nostalgic look, "Was there when I was in school. One day I didn't get back to my dorm until four in the morning, and she gave me a good scolding—I really can't imagine what would have happened to me if the Sphinx had been the doorman."

Bill's focus was clearly different; he was asking, "What were you doing outside the dorm at four in the morning?" He looked at his mother with utter astonishment, as if he had never imagined that his mother would be such a classmate.

Mrs. Weasley smiled, her eyes sparkling, clearly as memories of the past flooded back.

"I was taking a walk with your father when he was caught by the then-housemaster Lyon Prinlo—your father still has the mark on him."

Bill was hit.

Unexpectedly, I was caught off guard and fed a mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).

He's clearly not interested in his parents' love life; he's still single.

"How about—" Bill scratched his long hair, looked down at Harry and asked, "Shall we go for a walk? After all, you know, it's been quite a while since I've been back to Hogwarts."

"Let's go for a walk," Harry said. "We've got nothing better to do anyway."

As they walked out, Bill was still praising Harry's heroic feat of fighting the dragon.

"That's nothing, Bill," Harry said with a chuckle. "You know what? Just yesterday, something truly incredible happened in Gryffindor— you can't even imagine how courageous he was."

"Gryffindor," Bill said. "Gryffindor is the house of courage. I wouldn't be surprised if the students there were incredibly courageous."

As he spoke, he went to the long table in the Great Hall, tapped on it, and ordered an iced coffee.

They strolled toward the Great Hall's exit, and Harry continued, "You probably don't know how brave he was—he actually pulled out his wand right in front of Professor Snape and even called him a greasy Old Bat."

Splat

The cup in Bill's hand fell to the ground and shattered.

"What did you say?" Bill asked, bewildered.

He had already imagined in his mind just how courageous that student would be—whether he would tear down Professor McGonagall's office or sweep up all of Headmaster Dumbledore's candy storehouse—but he never expected that someone would actually confront Snape directly.

Bill could only say one thing: Good! Very energetic! You haven't disgraced Gryffindor!

Harry repeated it again.

"Who is this person?!" Bill asked excitedly. "I really want to meet him! My God, Gryffindor has produced such a genius! How come I graduated so early and never had the chance to meet this real Gryffindor?"

Harry:

He held up one finger. "Actually, you do know him."

"Who?" Bill asked.

"Your brother, Ron," Harry said, shrugging.

Bill:?

"No, impossible," Bill shook his head. "I don't believe Ron would be such a warrior. How could he dare? He's always been a coward. You could say he'd dare to talk behind Snape's back, but to insult him to his face, and even draw his wand—is that still Ron?"

"That's exactly right," Harry said with a smile. "Ron will have to go to Professor Snape's office to be punished after his History of Magic exam. But I highly doubt that Professor Snape will have figured out a punishment by then."

"He must have been furious." Bill sniffed, still finding it hard to believe. "So, my brother, Ron, drew his wand in front of Professor Snape and yelled at him?"

"Oh right, I also used a Stunning Spell, although it didn't cause any damage."

As Harry recounted this, he recalled the scene and burst into laughter.

"He's incredibly brave," Bill remarked. "I certainly wouldn't have had that kind of courage when I was in school—and I still don't now."

Just then, a pleasant voice came from behind.

"Are you referring to Ronald?"

Harry and Bill turned around together; it was Phoebe.

"Yes, it was him," Harry said. "What happened this morning—oh, you probably don't know."

He was still wondering why Phoebe had suddenly come out.

Was it for Bill?

He couldn't help but feel gossipy, and even looked the two of them up and down with great interest.

"Hello." Phoebe looked up and greeted Bill again, "I am Phoebe Delacour, a warrior of Beauxbatons."

It's a pleasure to meet you.

"William." Bill extended his hand and shook Phoebe's hand generously. "William Weasley, everyone usually calls me Bill —that Ronald, also known as Ron, he's my youngest brother."

Once their hands separated, Harry extended an invitation.

"We were just about to go for a walk, want to come along?"

"Okay," Phoebe readily agreed.

The three of them strolled in the sun-drenched area and had a very pleasant morning.

Bill, as an older alumnus and someone who works in Egypt, is a natural-born socialite.

This can be seen from his daily attire.

Phoebe felt very comfortable chatting with him and wasn't tired at all.

"See that? That 'Whomping Willow '?" Bill said, pointing to the Whomping Willow' in the distance. "That tree was planted after Mom School Opening. She used to tell me about it all the time."

"Yes, that was Professor Lupin —well, the Dumbledore planted when he was in school," Harry said with a laugh. "Theoretically speaking, Mrs. Weasley had indeed School Opening at that time."

"Talk?" Phoebe asked curiously. "Why? Why plant trees for him?"

"I don't know about that," Harry said, shrugging, then changed the subject, "What about Percy? How's Percy doing lately?"

"Percy," Bill said after a moment's thought. "Percy's been in good spirits lately. He says he's doing quite well in the department. Mr. Crouch is finally able to call him by his first name instead of ' Weatherby.'"

Harry tensed up, suppressing his urge to laugh.

After all, he's his good brother's older brother. Although he wasn't very close to Percy, he still had Ron's connection to him.

"That seems alright." Harry nodded. "At least Percy has finally made it through."

"I don't think so," Bill said with a smile. "Building seniority in the Ministry of Magic is a long-term battle. You can't get ahead in a year or two if you want to—oh, Miss Grindelwald is an exception, she doesn't count."

Harry thought to himself that Veratia was someone with connections, and besides, when it came to magical skill, even ten Percy cubed might not be able to match Veratia. Don't be fooled by Percy being Academic Bully; there are differences even among Academic Bully Academic Bully.

You can get a 0 because that's all you can do; Miss Grindelwald got a 0 because the highest score on the exam was 0.

As the sun reached its zenith, it was lunchtime, so the three of them returned to the castle to prepare for lunch.

Phoebe seemed very happy and even asked Bill for his mailing address.

After Phoebe left, Harry winked at Bill.

"I can tell, buddy," he said with a laugh, "This Miss Delacour seems to have a thing for you."