Molly looked expectantly at her youngest son, hoping he would be as sensible as he had been the last few times and obediently hand over the glittering Galleons-although, for now, they were only a cheque.
With that money, perhaps I could buy a few brand-new books by Mr Lockhart?
Molly thought about it eagerly.
"Give it to you?" Tris looked at Molly with deep suspicion. "If I give it to you, Mum, you'll go straight off and buy that Lockhart's books."
Molly froze when he exposed her intentions. For a moment, she even suspected that her youngest son knew Legilimency.
But that was obviously impossible.
Besides, even if Tris knew Legilimency, he could hardly read her thoughts without her noticing. At that thought, Molly grew embarrassed.
Her sons had seen right through her little scheme.
Especially when she saw the agreement on all their faces, Molly could not help blushing slightly.
Was I really being that obvious?
But the authority of the true head of the household could not be challenged!
Molly fixed him with a stern glare. "It isn't safe for a child to carry that much money. What if you run into a swindler or a thief? Besides, wasn't it reading Mr Lockhart's books that helped you write a manuscript like that?"
"My style is completely different from Lockhart's!" Tris shook his head firmly. His manuscript was indeed plagiarized, but he had copied novels aimed at female readers that he had read in his previous life.
It had absolutely nothing to do with Lockhart.
At most, he had learned how to use a few spells from his books.
And although the money had come as a surprise-or at least the amount had-he had immediately thought of plenty of uses for it.
No way am I letting Mum sweet-talk me out of it.
"I'm not going anywhere. When we go shopping in Diagon Alley this weekend, I'll deposit it at Gringotts! Surely nobody's going to break into Gringotts just to steal my thousand-odd Galleons."
Molly opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.
Then she turned and gave the nominal head of the household, Arthur, a hard shove. "Just look at your son! He has an answer for everything his mother says, and you won't do anything about it."
"He's about to go to Hogwarts. He can handle his own affairs..." Arthur did not want to be the wicked father who confiscated his son's private savings.
Ever since he had finished modifying the car, Arthur had felt rather content with life, so he lacked any particular craving for Galleons-Tris was thankful he had not started researching aeroplanes.
Seeing that her useless husband would not help her, Molly sat down in a huff. "Eat."
Everyone ate in silence, not daring to speak-their mother's intimidating presence had lost none of its force.
The children's eyes, however, kept darting about as they exchanged looks, each with plans of their own.
Thump! A noise came from the window.
Everyone jumped and turned toward the sound. A grey-black owl was plastered against the glass, slowly sliding down.
"Errol is getting too old. We might need a new owl," Molly said, looking at Tris.
"No problem. When we go to Diagon Alley this weekend, I'll buy the family an owl!" Tris nodded.
Apparently, he could not come into "ill-gotten gains" without parting with a little of them. To soothe his mother's temper, Tris decided to make a reasonable concession.
An owl would not cost much anyway.
Seeing that her son was still obedient, Molly felt a little better. "Charlie, go and have a look."
"All right." Charlie stood, went over to the window, and brought in Errol, the Weasley family's owl, who had knocked himself senseless against the glass. He set him on the windowsill, then went still.
At first, nobody at the table noticed. But after a while, when Charlie still had not returned, they looked over.
"Charlie, what's wrong?" Molly noticed that he was trembling slightly and hurriedly asked in concern.
Molly was not actually all that eager for Galleons. As the saying went, people who shared a bed tended to be alike. Arthur was indifferent to Galleons, and Molly was hardly a money-lover herself.
She just wanted a few new books by Lockhart. Of course, an autograph would make them even better.
Now that something seemed wrong with her second son, her attention immediately shifted.
Charlie slowly turned around. To everyone's surprise, the most easygoing and rugged of the brothers now had slightly reddened eyes.
In his hand was an unfolded parchment letter.
"Charlie, could it be..." Something occurred to Arthur, and he suddenly grew nervous.
"Yes!" Charlie nodded vigorously. Despite his reddened eyes, he could not hide the joy on his face. "An offer from the French Dragon Reserve!"
"They accepted you?" Molly caught on too, excited but a little disbelieving.
"Yes, they accepted me! And the letter says that if even Dumbledore thinks so highly of me, I must be an exceptional candidate. So I can skip the three-year apprenticeship and become a dragon keeper straight after training!" Charlie was trembling all over with excitement.
Arthur and Molly were ecstatic at first, but then their expressions quickly turned odd, and they looked at Tris beside them.
"Heh!" Tris chuckled. "Charlie, what did I tell you? Being a few marks short in your N.E.W.T.s-the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests-was no big deal. With a recommendation letter from Dumbledore, there isn't a place in Europe you can't get into!"
"This... actually..." Beside them, Percy wore an indescribably conflicted expression.
Charlie had wanted to study dragons at a Dragon Sanctuary after graduation, but his N.E.W.T. results had not met the entry requirements for Europe's largest Dragon Sanctuary. His only options had been second-rate Dragon Sanctuaries in Romania or Africa.
The whole family had thought the matter settled, but Tris had suggested that Charlie write to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, asking them to send recommendation letters to the French Dragon Reserve.
As Tris saw it, the Weasley family were Dumbledore's staunch supporters and core members of the Order of the Phoenix.
Their credentials were impeccable!
Surely Dumbledore would not turn down such a tiny request?
Sure enough, Dumbledore readily agreed and wrote a recommendation. And anyone in the know understood just how much weight Old Dumbledore's name carried in Europe, and indeed throughout the wizarding world!
The Dragon Sanctuary in France accepted Charlie without hesitation and even waived his apprenticeship.
The difference in pay alone was no small sum. Had Charlie followed the normal process and gone to Romania, he would have had to start as an apprentice. For the first two years, he would probably have struggled to get by and needed support from his family.
Now, however, he could skip the apprenticeship, earn a full salary immediately, and help support the family instead. Even Bill, an outstanding student who had been invited to work at Gringotts straight out of school, had needed support from home during his first year.
The whole family was thrilled and delighted about this, except Percy.
Percy was certainly happy for Charlie too. It was just that, rigid as he was, he struggled to accept that a single recommendation from Dumbledore could outweigh several N.E.W.T. qualifications.
Especially when he had already planned to follow Bill's example and earn twelve O.W.T. qualifications-the Ordinary Wizarding Levels-and had been working hard toward that goal.
Percy felt that his outlook on life and his understanding of the world had suffered a tremendous blow, to the point of crumbling just a little...
Everyone's attention was on Charlie. Nobody noticed Percy's little reactions except Tris.
Tris felt rather differently about his third-oldest brother than Fred, George, and Ron did.
Unlike the twins and Ron, who preferred playing around and coasting along, Tris showed a thirst for learning and knowledge that suited Percy perfectly.
As a result, Percy had been the one to help Tris most often with his studies over the past few years. Even when Tris asked very basic questions, he never showed the slightest impatience.
Percy was extremely driven, and he admired that quality in others.
Tris felt that someone who worked hard to better himself did not deserve so much criticism.
In the original story, Percy had gone through a period of deeply unlikable behavior. But that was only because misguided ambitions had blinded him.
In the final battle, however, he had still resolutely joined the fight.
After spending several years in this world, Tris had more or less worked out Percy's temperament and guessed what had happened back then.
Percy had talent and ambition, and he wanted a place where he could put them to use. But the Weasley family was far too laid-back, and had even become a burden on his climb up the career ladder.
That was why he had once leaned toward the Ministry of Magic and Fudge.
Yet once he learned that Voldemort really had returned, he had still firmly chosen to fight.
I hope my being here can keep him from taking that wrong turn, Tris thought.
"Charlie's been accepted! That's wonderful news!" Molly said happily. "Let's go out and celebrate this weekend. We need to buy supplies for the new school year anyway."
As she spoke, her gaze settled on Tris again.
She clearly hoped that he would make a contribution.
Tris pretended not to notice.
I was the one who arranged for Dumbledore to write Charlie's recommendation, and now I'm supposed to pay for the celebration too?
Even soaking the rich has its limits, doesn't it?
Still, if we're going to Diagon Alley...
Tris turned his gaze toward Percy, who was feeding breadcrumbs to the rat in his pocket. The rat was missing a toe on one front paw.