The Late Weasley Family

the next day.

King's Cross Station was as bustling as ever, but today there was an unusual group of passengers dressed in rather unconventional outfits, hurrying through the platforms.

What's even more striking is that their luggage carts always have a large birdcage filled with various kinds of owls.

Some of the new guards looked at them curiously, but most of the older guards seemed unfazed.

It's the same every year; it's probably some kind of owl festival being held somewhere. They're used to it.

On platform 9, a red steam train was parked nearby, surrounded by parents picking up and dropping off their children, creating a lively scene.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Dobby," Kyle said, looking at the House-elf beside him.

Kyle had originally planned to take the Knight Bus because it was the first day of school, but Dobby offered to drive him there.

The advantage of doing this is that you can get directly to the platform without having to go through the station, which is quite convenient.

"Dobby is happy to be able to help Mr. Kyle," the House-elf said happily.

"Harry hasn't arrived yet. Do you want to wait a bit?" Kyle checked the time. "It should only be a few minutes."

Dobby somewhat tempted, but after hesitating for a moment, he shook his head.

"No, Dobby has a lot of work to do today, and the Demiguise needs looking after too," the House-elf said. "Mr. Kyle, could you please give my Dobby to Harry Potter?"

"Of course, no problem."

After receiving an affirmative answer, the House-elf happily bowed and then disappeared from the spot.

"Kyle!"

Kanna, carrying a suitcase, walked over from a short distance away. "When did you arrive? I didn't see you come in from the station entrance."

"The House-elf sent me here," Kyle said. "Through Apparition."

"That's so convenient," Kanna said.

Soon, Cedric and Cho arrived as well.

The Weasley family still hadn't arrived, so the group decided to go to the train and reserve seats.

Since it was almost time for departure, they walked from the front of the bus to the back before finally finding an empty compartment.

"How was your holiday?" Qiu put her luggage on the shelf and said with a gloomy look, "I stayed at home for two months. My mom was going to take me to Sydney, but it fell through because of work."

"I went to Hampshire, where my grandfather lives," Cedric said. "My father said things were a bit turbulent lately and insisted I go there, only bringing me back yesterday afternoon."

"By the way, Kyle," he turned his head, "I heard you received a warning letter from the Ministry of Magic, what happened?"

"You received a warning letter?" Kanna asked nervously.

"How did you know?" Kyle asked. "There shouldn't have been any news about this in the newspapers."

"My father told me," Cedric said. "I got him drunk yesterday and found out a lot about the Ministry of Magic."

"..."

Well, what a fine son of Mr. Diggory.

"It's nothing." Kyle glanced at Cedric speechlessly, then shook his head. "It's all resolved; it was just a misunderstanding."

"I bet it has to do with You-Know-Who," Kanna said. "I read the Daily Prophet; it's saying every day that Dumbledore is a madman. Obviously, the Ministry of Magic doesn't want to admit that You-Know-Who has returned. You must have gotten involved because of that."

"That's true," Kyle said, "But thankfully it's all resolved."

A loud whistle blared.

"The train is about to leave." Cedric opened the window and leaned out. "Strange, where are Fred and George? Kyle, aren't you with them?"

Kyle shook his head. "No, I came alone."

He also found it a bit strange; given Mrs. Weasley's personality, it was impossible for her not to have arrived by this late.

A few minutes later, another loud whistle sounded, and the train slowly started moving.

"It seems they really are late," Qiu said, frowning.

No, they're here!

Kyle instinctively looked outside, and just as the train was about to leave the station, Fred and George finally appeared.

They Apparition into the carriage at the last minute.

"Phew... we're finally here." Fred leaned against the door of the private room, panting heavily.

"What happened?" Kyle handed him a bottle of Pumpkin Juice. "Where are Harry and the others? Why is it just the two of you?"

"Moody was attacked," Fred said after taking a big gulp of Pumpkin Juice. "This morning, Death Eaters broke into his house."

"How is Professor Moody?" Cedric asked.

"He was injured, but thankfully it wasn't serious," George said. "Sturgis happened to be looking for him at the time and saw the Killing Curse fly over his head."

"That was close, wasn't it?" Fred said. "Moody was almost killed."

"It's not that easy," Qiu said. "Don't forget, Professor Moody is the most famous Auror. Death Eaters won't kill him so easily."

"Perhaps," George said. "Then everyone thought the Death Eaters were likely still lying in ambush near King's Cross Station, preparing to attack Harry, so they were being extra cautious on the road."

But no one paid attention to the time...

"We were already late when we arrived at King's Cross Station."

"George and I were the fastest," Fred said, "But Harry and the others bowed too much."

As he spoke, he leaned out of the window and glanced out.

However, by this time the train had already gone quite far, and the platform was long gone.

"Oh no, I don't know how Ginny is going to get to school."

"Unfortunately, we can't Apparition with people yet."

"Don't worry," Kyle said. "There are adults here. They'll definitely find a way to get Ginny to Hogwarts."

"That's true." George sat down next to Cedric. "Mom won't let Ginny and Ron be late."

"I just don't know what they'll do." Fred sat down next to him. "Wait, George, do you think Sirius's new car can fly?"

Both of them were taken aback.

"If that's the case..." George said dryly, "I won't be able to sleep at night."

Me too.

"That's easy, you can just ask around when you get to the school," Cedric said. "But don't you find it strange that the Death Eaters suddenly attacked Professor Moody?"

"They probably want to find out Harry's whereabouts from him," George sighed. "Everyone knows that the You-Know-Who has always wanted to get rid of Harry."

"But we can't figure out why Professor Moody," Fred said. "He's clearly a tough nut to crack."

"Do you think... it could be related to the curse of Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Qiu said hesitantly. "Isn't it strange? Both professors from last year were fine, which has never happened before."

After hearing Qiu's explanation, everyone realized that it seemed to be a real possibility.

Indeed, for decades before, every Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts could only teach for one year. Only Moody and Sirius managed to make it to the end of the school year and leave Hogwarts with everyone else during the holidays.

At first, everyone thought it was because there were two professors, and they shared the curse. But then, the day before school started, Moody was suddenly attacked.

If there's no connection between the two, wouldn't that be too much of a coincidence?