These People Really Had Hairy Hearts!

"It was a young wizard who hadn't even enrolled yet. He used magic in the attic of an orphanage," Arthur Weasley said.

"That's no big deal."

Molly did not think much of it.

Although the Ministry of Magic did have regulations forbidding underage wizards from using magic outside school, magic used by young wizards who had not yet enrolled was a gray area.

It was difficult for the Ministry to regulate or define.

For young wizards from pure-blood families, the matter could easily be blamed on an adult wizard within the family, avoiding the Ministry's attention.

As for young wizards from Muggle families, they could brush it off by saying they had not yet enrolled or were unable to control their magic.

So Molly had not taken it to heart.

"Do people at the Ministry really have time to care about such trivial things?" Molly guessed. "The little wizard probably just couldn't control his magic."

Arthur shook his head. "No, it wasn't an accidental burst of magic. It was an actual spell."

He smiled appreciatively and continued, "That little wizard practiced spells alone in the orphanage attic. I heard he even made quite a bit of money. What a clever little fellow."

Rather than changing the tea leaves she had just brewed, Molly added more water and made another pot of very weak black tea.

She found it rather strange. Even if this young wizard was a little genius who had learned spells before enrolling, what did that have to do with them?

Was it really necessary for Arthur to tell her about it so mysteriously?

Unless this child had something significant to do with her?

Carrying the teapot to the table, Molly suddenly remembered Arthur mentioning an "orphanage."

Her heart instantly clenched.

Ever since learning about Silan's circumstances, she had become sensitive to that word.

A suspicion began spreading through her heart.

"You mean that child is Silan Prewett?"

"That's right. A few people at the Ministry had quite an argument over him."

Arthur took the teapot from Molly's hands, poured her a cup first, then poured one for himself.

He said with a smile, "Normally, it isn't a big deal for young wizards to use a few spells before enrolling. There have always been children practicing spells alone at home before school starts. After all, everyone gets curious."

He took a sip of the much weaker black tea.

"But this little fellow was different. Besides practicing spells, he bought damaged Muggle items at low prices, repaired them with Reparo, then sold them on. He made quite a lot of money."

"Ha ha." Molly could not help laughing. "That child really does resemble my brother Fabian."

As she remembered it, Fabian had indeed done similar things.

The Prewett family had not been particularly wealthy, but her brothers had never let her go without. After Fabian made some money, the first thing he did was buy her a new wand.

It had meant an extraordinary amount to her.

Even after all these years, she could still clearly remember how excited and eager she had felt when she received that new wand.

"So you've already found out he's your nephew?" Arthur put down his teacup and asked in surprise.

"That's right. Before you came back, Professor McGonagall visited. We both agreed that Silan is my brother Fabian's child. That poor little fellow is my own nephew!"

Molly told Arthur about how she and McGonagall had compared their information, then immediately asked,

"So how does the Ministry plan to handle this?"

"Ha." Arthur laughed. "This matter really put my colleagues in a difficult position. They argued for several days without reaching a conclusion, and in the end, they planned to write to Hogwarts..."

"These people really have hairy hearts!"

Molly cut him off excitedly, roaring like a lioness protecting her cubs. "How would a young wizard who hasn't enrolled yet know about these rules?!"

"Don't get worked up." Arthur added some tea to her cup and comforted her. "This was never more than a trivial matter. It's just that a few people like to nitpick. You know how many inflexible old sticklers there are at the Ministry."

Molly did not even glance at the black tea. She simply grabbed Arthur's hand and asked,

"So how exactly were they going to deal with it? Have Hogwarts punish him?"

"No. I put a stop to it."

Arthur winked at her. "For Prewett's sake. Did I do the right thing?"

Molly suddenly felt that her husband's usual bold habit of collecting Muggle items was not entirely a bad thing.

At the very least, he was used to not being afraid of the Ministry's rules.

Her whole body relaxed, no longer tense, and she eagerly patted Arthur's hand.

"Oh, thank you, Arthur."

Arthur waved a hand at her. "It was nothing."

To him, compared to leaving loopholes for himself while drafting laws, this truly was not a major matter.

"Good. I've decided to make you a grand feast as a reward!"

"Oh, I like this nephew."

"Extra dishes!"

After dinner, Molly returned to her room to write letters.

She could hardly wait to tell everyone in the family about Silan's identity.

That night, the lights at The Burrow stayed on until dawn.

As soon as daylight broke, the owl Errol took off carrying a stack of letters.

He first had to go to Hogwarts to deliver letters to Percy Weasley, George, Fred, and Ron. Then he had to fly to Gringotts to deliver a letter to Bill Weasley, who worked as a Curse-Breaker. Finally, he still had to make a trip to Romania to deliver a letter to Charlie Weasley, who studied Dragons.

Oh, the Weasley children really were numerous.

For an owl of his age, it was indeed an arduous task.

Fortunately, Molly had given him a bottle of owl tonic.

Hogwarts, Gryffindor common room.

George and Fred had just finished teasing Ron and were plotting their next scheme.

Ron, meanwhile, sat on the sofa sulking.

Ever since he had broken the toy Uncle Prewett gave his two older brothers, they had begun treating him as a toy—and had kept at it for years.

They had not let him off even after starting school.

After all, the Weasleys were all Gryffindors.

After circling outside the window for a while, Errol shot in through it and collided headfirst with Ron as he stood up.

In the literal sense.

"Errol?"

Rubbing his head, Ron pulled Errol off it.

"Did Mum send a letter?" Fred leaned over with a grin. "It's probably a Howler for Ron."

"If it's a Howler, then there are letters for you two as well!" Ron tossed the other two letters to them.

Errol squeezed back out through the window to find Percy.

He was easy enough to locate.

All he had to do was find the Gryffindor who said the word "prefect" the most.

The three of them opened their letters and read them.

There was not much written inside. Yet the ink blots left where the writer had carefully weighed her words before reluctantly putting pen to parchment showed just how unsettled she had been.

Ron finished first. His face reddened as he jumped to his feet indignantly.

"How is that possible? He's really our cousin?!"

"Mum must have made a mistake!"

George and Fred exchanged a glance, then said at the same time, "Looks like we have another little brother."

"Little brother?" Ron shouted angrily. "He's a Slytherin student!"

"Yeah, and you're a Gryffindor student."

Fred shrugged without caring in the slightest.

George picked up where he left off. "This is brilliant. A Slytherin named Prewett! I really want to see Mum's expression when she finds out!"

"I absolutely refuse to accept this!"

Perhaps because of his prejudice against Slytherin, or perhaps because Silan's excellence made him feel inferior and stirred up extreme emotions in him.

Ron crumpled the letter into a ball, stuffed it into his robes, and stormed off.

The Weasley twins shrugged. They did not feel much resistance toward the idea.

Come on, he was someone who bought Dungbombs!

What more needed to be said?

"George, I think we should return the money to our cousin."

"Of course, Fred. Let's go find him."

Author's note: "Having a hairy heart" is a common wizarding expression meaning someone is cold and heartless. It originated from The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in "The Warlock's Hairy Heart." In the story, a warlock removed his heart and placed it in a crystal casket, and it eventually grew hair.