The mornings in the Burrow are not very quiet.
"Five Galleon! I can't believe my ears!" Molly shouted at Arthur Weasley across the table. "Are you crazy? Spending so much money on some Daily Prophet's grand prize contest? It's outrageous!"
Molly, like an angry lioness, glared at Arthur Weasley with her hands on the table.
You might as well throw that money down the drain!
"Of course, I'd prefer you to use the money to buy bread..."
"We have plenty of bread, my dear," Arthur Weasley said with a forced smile. "The children won't go hungry either, I promise."
Although he secretly signed up, he couldn't hide it from Molly after all.
Molly nearly fainted when she heard Arthur Weasley say he spent five Galleon to participate in the event.
That's five Galleon!
Arthur Weasley stiffly turned his head and kept winking at George and Fred at the table.
He moved his lips, silently saying, "Quickly, say something for me!"
George and Fred shook their heads somewhat helplessly, their hands still busy spreading butter on their bread.
They opened their mouths, chewed a few mouthfuls of air, bulged out their bellies, and said in unison.
"Dad's right, we're very full..."
Molly suddenly turned her head and glared at them.
George and Fred immediately fell silent and quietly handed Molly their buttered bread.
"Mom, please eat."
"Thank you." Molly rolled her eyes at them. "I really have no appetite right now."
Fred took a bite of his bread and said, somewhat indistinctly, "Don't worry, Mom. We have enough money to help with household expenses."
"Yeah, there aren't many Galleon signings anyway," George chimed in. "Let Dad give it a try."
"What if he gets lucky?"
"Stop comforting me, I just want to be alone." Molly was still fuming.
George and Fred wisely shut themselves up with bread and sausages.
After sitting in the chair for a while, Molly suddenly asked, "But... where did you get the money? Answer honestly."
Molly stared intently at Arthur Weasley, covered one ear with her hand, and said warily, "I really hope I don't hear anything about corruption or bribery."
Ron strolled down the stairs, yawning as he said, "Come on, that's impossible."
"The perks in Dad's job aren't even as much as the profits from composting dragon dung."
Since becoming a skilled dragon dung composter, Ron has made it a habit to use dragon dung compost as a metaphor.
"He's right." Arthur Weasley nodded seriously.
"Then where did you get your money?" Molly looked Arthur Weasley up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Uh... the sausages are pretty good today." Arthur Weasley abruptly changed the subject. "They smell so good they're almost intoxicating."
"Um?"
Molly drawled out her words, her scrutinizing gaze piercing Arthur Weasley like a sword, warning him not to try and get away with it.
"Cough cough..."
Seeing that he couldn't get away with it, Arthur Weasley fidgeted with the corner of the table somewhat awkwardly, "I borrowed it from Silan..."
Before he could finish speaking, Molly interrupted him.
"My God! I never imagined you'd even lose your own nephew's money! How could you do that!"
Molly grew angrier as she spoke, grabbing a piece of bread from the table to throw at him, but perhaps out of reluctance, she eventually put it down.
Then he grabbed a rock-hard piece of bread and threw it at them.
Arthur Weasley formed a circle with his two arms and raised it in front of him.
The bread flew through the circle like a Quaffle and was finally caught in his mouth.
"Gryffindor gets 10 points," Arthur Weasley mumbled.
"Don't worry, darling. Silan said I'll win." Arthur Weasley took a bite of his bread. "It's a Prophecy."
"Our nephew might be a Seer."
"Ha!" Molly laughed in exasperation. "I'd rather believe that Silan was just trying to put your mind at ease by saying those comforting words."
"He is a kind child."
"Think about it carefully. None of the people we know have ever won this big prize. The odds are just too low."
After the initial excitement subsided, Arthur Weasley realized that Molly's words made some sense, and a heavy sense of worry crept into his heart.
He crunched on the hard bread, then picked up the Pumpkin Juice on the table and took a big gulp.
The thick Pumpkin Juice was swallowed along with the hard bread.
But the worry in my heart only grew heavier.
Just then, Silan pushed the door open and came in from the outside.
He went for a walk after breakfast.
Arthur Weasley took another sip of Pumpkin Juice, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Silan hand him a letter.
"Your letter is here, Uncle Arthur Weasley. I just brought it back from outside; it might be from the Daily Prophet."
This statement drew the attention of everyone in the restaurant.
Ron stuffed a sausage into his mouth while glancing at the letter.
Their home address was written on clean letter paper.
Devon
Ottley Ottery St Catchpole, the Burrow, Mr. Weasley. Arthur Weasley.
"We've won the lottery!" Arthur Weasley almost jumped up, his hands trembling as he took the envelope.
George waved the newspaper at him helplessly, reminding him, "Dad, it says that all applicants will receive a reply."
"You'll have to open it to see if you've won."
"Oh, right!" Arthur Weasley slapped his forehead, annoyed. "Look, I forgot about that."
Awakened by George's bucket of cold water, Arthur Weasley's heart leaped into his throat, and he became tense again.
He wiped his hands with his clothes, sat down in the chair, and carefully took the envelope.
George and Fred came over, moved the food in front of him aside, and enthusiastically urged him on.
"Hurry up and open it, Dad!"
"Yes, yes, don't be afraid. If you don't win, at most your mom will pinch your ear. It's no big deal."
Molly also came over, standing behind Arthur Weasley, craning her neck to look at the envelope.
She looked very nervous.
Although she thought it was impossible, she couldn't help but feel tempted when the chance to win 700 Galleon was right in front of her.
It's like buying lottery tickets. Even though you know the chances of winning are slim and it's probably just a waste of money, you still can't help but feel a little hopeful when you're scratching a lottery ticket.
"Ugh, I'm going to tear it down."
Arthur Weasley looked serious, as if facing a formidable enemy.
"Oh, wait!" Molly suddenly exclaimed, "I'll go get the lucky letter opener; it might bring us good luck."
"What?" George asked, puzzled.
"I bought it before," Molly explained. "I use it every time Hogwarts sends me a letter."
"I hope to see good news, instead of it being about the two of you getting into some new bad thing at school every time."
"Is it useful?" Fred asked.
Molly's face stiffened; it seemed she really hadn't done anything...
"No need for all that trouble!" Arthur Weasley shouted, his face flushed. "I'll dismantle it right now!"
After saying this, Arthur Weasley peeled off the sealing wax bearing the Daily Prophet's logo and opened the envelope.
Molly hurried back, squinting at the letter.
"Dear Mr. Weasley ..."