Thank Merlin, Lockhart's combination of household magic and that joke kept Kate smiling, and for no reason at all, it rubbed off on Ryan.
He continued flipping through The Daily Prophet, but there was nothing else that could be called amusing. Most of the rest consisted of seemingly sharp critiques of current affairs and halfhearted accusations against the Ministry of Magic's current administration.
It was worth noting that those accused were mostly fringe departments and insignificant policies, such as Arthur Weasley's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, requirements for cauldron materials and sizes, and so on.
There was not a single word about cutting Hogwarts's financial expenditures or using political means to make it harder to apply for permits to open potion shops.
Newspapers that appeared unafraid of power like this were the truly frightening ones. No wonder that after Harry claimed Voldemort had returned, the Ministry of Magic had influenced most of the wizarding public through The Daily Prophet alone.
Speaking of Arthur Weasley, one had to marvel at how his entire family was full of martyrs.
Only after Ryan had crossed over did he discover that Molly Weasley's maiden name was Prewett, one of the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight.
Hagrid had once told Harry about Voldemort's terror. "Anyone he decided to kill, not a single one escaped disaster. Only you survived. He killed many outstanding witches and wizards back then, like the MacKinnon family, the Bones family, and the Prewett brothers. You were the only one who survived."
The Prewett brothers were Gideon Prewett and Fabian Prewett. They had both been members of the Order of the Phoenix and were also Molly Weasley's brothers. At the time, Molly Weasley had not yet joined the Order of the Phoenix because she was raising her children.
By tradition, wizards received a watch