It was already five o'clock.
From a little after three until five on the dot, Hermione and Ginny had stayed in the room upstairs, doing who knew what, without coming down.
The others sat at the table enjoying Mrs. Weasley's masterpiece-Pumpkin Pasties-and the juice Ron had brought over. Bill Weasley had joined them too, telling them amusing stories about his work as a Curse-Breaker in the pyramids of Egypt.
The pyramids of Egypt contained many magical inscriptions passed down from ancient times, and unraveling the mysteries of those spells was what Bill had been working on.
"You know Egypt has mummies, right?" Bill gave a mysterious smile and took a bite of his Pumpkin Pasty, keeping everyone in suspense before continuing,
"The people who were made into mummies were those who held status in ancient times. They believed that having their internal organs removed and stored separately in jars bearing magical inscriptions, then drawing magical patterns inside their burial chambers, could bring them back to life one day in the future."
"Once, we opened a pyramid, got past the traps at the entrance, and entered the burial chamber. You'll never believe this..."
Charlie lowered his voice. "When we opened the jar the pyramid's owner had used to hold his heart... the heart inside looked as though it had just been taken out."
"We were terrified..."
"We were about to give up on the place and leave for the time being, but something terrible happened!" Charlie suddenly let out a loud "Bang!"-"The burial chamber door slammed shut!"
Just then, a clatter came from the fireplace a short distance behind them. Ron shuddered all over in fright and let out a strange yelp.
Fred and George exchanged a glance, slapping the table as they roared with laughter. Charlie laughed too and high-fived