Birthday Gift

As the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, 12 Grimmauld Place was rarely this lively.

Every corner had been scrubbed spotless. Even the picture frames had been polished and decorated with brightly colored ornaments.

Though Mrs Black's shrill curses were grating, they still could not stop Fred from sticking a red pointed hat onto her portrait frame. Even Kreacher pretended not to see a thing, tapping his own head with a broom as he walked upstairs with his eyes closed.

Pointed hats of every color could be seen throughout the house. The walls and windows had been freshly decorated with streamers and ribbons, while balloon Unicorns and phoenixes flew about beneath the ceiling. The place was bustling.

When Kyle pushed open the door, he saw Fred and George laughing as they tossed several fireworks into the air.

The fireworks burst against the ceiling, and seventeen winged golden fairies flew merrily around him, encircling him.

"Don't play with fireworks indoors..." Mrs. Weasley walked over and said to the two of them, not too sternly.

Then she stepped forward and gave Kyle a big hug. "Thank goodness you're back. Today is such an important day... Happy birthday, dear."

"Yes, very important," Fred said with a grin.

"After today, you'll be an adult wizard," George said.

Wizards came of age at seventeen, and today happened to be Kyle's seventeenth birthday.

Starting tomorrow, all restrictions on young wizards—especially the rule forbidding underage wizards from using magic outside school—would cease to apply to him entirely.

That also meant he could use magic however he pleased, without any restrictions... though that was already what he had been doing. For instance, no one had mentioned his illegal use of magic outside school during the Death Eater attack that morning, or earlier when dealing with the Dementors.