MTLNOVEL Chapter 11: Chapter 11: For Fear to All
Chapter 11: For Fear to All
The morning went by in a blur as Potter and the Weasley family enjoyed a lovely fireside meal with their Central European company. As everyone finished eating, simply because there was no food left, Christine used a simple charm to get cleaning up after everyone. Which nearly smacked Ginny on the back of the head.
"Terribly sorry, my dear. That charm always gets a bit too close for comfort." Christine said, apologizing for her wayward magic.
"It's all right. I understand." Ginny replied, looking at the dishes cautiously.
"Well, it's nice of you two to have us. Running scared from our mum worked up quite the appetite." George said contently, rubbing his now full belly.
"Agreed, George. I couldn't eat another bite." Fred replied with a smile.
"Are you sure? Garrett, honey. Can you check the bag for me?" Christine asked, before motioning to her son.
Garrett quickly rummaged around in a bag, quickly producing a wheel of cheese, and offering it to Fred.
"Nein! Not the good wheel!" Christine yelled, pointing vigorously at her son.
Garrett nodded softly before quickly swiping the cheese from Fred and putting it back in the bag.
"That did look rather good…" Fred said with a smile, one that Ginny quickly picked up on.
"We're saving that cheese for a special occasion." Christine said, smiling softly at Garrett. "It's celebratory, for when my son gets sorted at Hogwarts."
"Oh, that does sound special." George said with a nod.
"You know, we have both a brother and a sister going to Hogwarts as well." Fred said with a smile.
"And our cousin Mafalda. Don't forget her." Ginny pointed out.
"Why would we want to?" The twins asked in unison.
"I'm actually starting my second year alongside their brother Ron." Harry pointed out.
"Oh, you are? Look at that, Garrett. We found one of your classmates." Christine said with a smile to her son.
Garrett offered a nervous smile but otherwise stayed silent. Christine let out a soft sigh at her son's silence, her eyes had a glint of familiarity with them, as if she had seen Garrett act like this before.
"Well, we can't thank you enough for your hospitality, Mrs. Christine. It would be rude of us not to invite you and your son over for dinner." Fred said, extending a generous offer to the pair.
"Oh, most definitely, Fred. The generosity they showed us by having us for breakfast should be repaid in kind." George replied with a knowing grin.
"Oh, we would be honored to join you. Wouldn't we, Garrett?" Christine answered with a smile, before looking at her son. As if prompting him to speak.
Garrett still refused to talk, instead offering a simple nod, causing Christine to pat his shoulder consolingly.
"Garrett, my love. I know you don't like people all that much, but this will help you warm up to them." Christine said gently, offering her son a smile, which, after a few seconds, he returned.
"They're not so bad when you get to know them." Harry explained simply, trying to help explain the… eccentricities of the Weasleys.
"When you get past my brothers'... personalities, most of them are actually pleasant and easy to get along with. Except for Percy. He's a stick in the mud." Ginny added, trying to help.
"Garrett, sweetie. Make sure everything is packed up securely. We are going to go to the Weasleys' today." Christine ordered, causing her son to jump to action.
In a shockingly quick time, despite his leg and without magic, Garrett had the camp cleaned up and ready for them to leave. With that, Christine put out the fire, and the group of six were off. Once they were on the trail, it was a brisk walk back. Unfortunately for the twins, by the time they reached the garden, Molly was already waiting for them. With a face that could give a giant a heart attack.
"Fred and George Weasley! Where! Have! You! Been!? And why in the bloody hell did your bedroom closet explode!?" Molly shouted; her face redder than her hair in pure rage.
"Um… we found guests?" Fred asked nervously, hoping that the beast would stay.
It was at that moment that Molly calmed down and gave their guests a smile. "Well, hello. I apologize for not notifying you sooner. I'm Fred, George, and Ginny's mother Molly. And you are?" She said with a pleasant and gentle tone.
"It's lovely to meet you. I am Christine Becker, and this is my son Garrett." Christine answered with a smile, motioning to her son as she did.
"It's a pleasure to meet both of you. Would you mind allowing us some privacy so that I can speak to my boys before I make us some tea?" Molly asked with a sickly-sweet tone that filled the twins with fear.
"Of course. Take your time." Christine replied, nodding as Molly soon grabbed the twins.
As soon as the door to the room shut, Molly's voice could be heard from through the walls. "FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU TWO MUPPETS DESTROY PART OF MY HOUSE!! I SWEAR, I DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU GET THIS FROM!!! IT'S ALMOST LIKE YOU TWO WERE RAISED BY MONKEYS!!!!" She roared at the top of her lungs like a beast of biblical proportions.
"But mum…" The two tried to say in unison, before Molly cut them off.
"DON'T YOU TWO 'BUT MUM' ME!!! THE ONLY BUTTS YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT ARE YOURS IF I CATCH YOU DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN!!! AND BRINGING GUESTS HOME WITH THE HOUSE IN THIS CONDITION!?!?!? ARE YOU TRYING TO EMBARRASS OUR FAMILY!?!?!?!? I HAVE HALF A MIND TO REVOKE ALL OF YOUR PRIVILEGES AND GROUND YOU FOR LIFE BETWEEN SCHOOL YEARS!!!! OR, EVEN BETTER, TAKE YOU OUT OF SCHOOL TO HOMESCHOOL YOU AND EXTEND YOUR PUNISHMENT!!!!" Molly shouted at her sons.
"Please, mother!! Spare us!!" The two boys begged.
"IF YOU TWO ARE NOT ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR DURING THIS DINNER, BEING GROUNDED FOR LIFE WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES!!! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR!?!?" Molly howled in rage.
"YES, MOTHER!!" The two boys yelled in response.
"GOOD!!! NOW GO WASH UP FOR DINNER BEFORE I TAN YOUR REAR ENDS!!!!" Molly yelled at them.
At that, the two boys rushed out of the room, almost taking the door off its hinges. For Ginny, this was frankly about normal. For Harry and the Becker's, this is greatly surprising. It was so bad Scabbers was shivering in a corner with several pellets having magically formed behind him. All were stunned by the awe-inspiring wrath the woman displayed.
With that, the Weasley Matriarch made her way back into the room, a pleasant smile on her face. "My apologies. Shall I make us some tea?" She politely told them, as if she had not just put the fear of Merlin himself into her boys.
"Of course." Christine said with a nod.
Meanwhile
"So, Ginny… why exactly are we doing this?" Harry asked as he sat down next to Ginny and Garrett on the couch.
"Because the twins invited them over and we don't want my mum's wrath turned on us." Ginny grumbled.
"Uh huh. And your brothers are showing up when exactly for this meeting?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Did someone say when?" Fred said as he popped his head up from behind the couch.
The three on the couch practically jumped out of their own skins at that. "Fred!? What the bloody hell!?" Ginny screamed in fear.
George then popped up behind the three. "Relax, Gin. We just finished washing up for dinner." He told them, making them jump in terror again.
"Stop! Doing that!" Ginny screamed again.
"So, we shouldn't get Ron for the triple?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.
"NO!" Harry and Ginny yelled at the two.
"Well, it appears they have contracted the stick-up-the-bum disease George. A dreadful condition." Fred said, standing up from behind the couch.
"We can only hope their conditions don't worsen like poor Percy's did. The poor sod lost any and all ability to have fun." George replied with mock sadness, shaking his head.
"And we can't have that. We can save young Garrett over here from such a tragic fate." Fred said as he walked around the couch to sit on a chair.
"Indeed, we can. Come, young Garrett! Embrace the fun side with us!" George called out in a dramatic fashion, offering his hand to him.
Garrett nodded meekly, before taking the offered hand with a smile.
"We're gonna do great things together, mate. I can already tell." Fred replied, walking over and gently clapping the lad on his shoulder.
"Oh, this is exciting! Alright, Ginny, who's on the hit list this year?" George asked, rubbing his freshly washed hands together in glee.
"I'll need to check. Didn't your friend Alejandro from Harry and Ron's year write to you saying that he'd composed a parchment's list worth of new potential prank spells over the summer?" Ginny replied, a small smile on her face.
"Hang on a second, I think I have it in here." Fred said, pulling out a bag from under his chair, and reaching in. The first thing coming out was the still moving trunk of an elephant. "I forgot I had that in there."
"Try looking near the Goo-Spewing Wizard Hat, Fred." George offered helpfully.
With a nod, he reached into the bag. Only then pull out a putrid looking griffin egg with several wires sticking out from it.
"So that's where we put the rotten griffin egg bomb. That would have been great at the family reunion." Fred said, admiring his handiwork.
"Hm… maybe it's by the head of Biting Gnome Lettuce?" George asked in confusion.
"No, that's the Knob Gobbler 9000, George. Be civil." Fred said, fakely admonishing his twin.
"Wait, now I remember! I put it right by the fire-spewing broomstick!" George said, finally remembering where he put the letter.
Fred put the bag on the table, before bending his front half down into the bag. After several questionable noises escaped the bag, he finally stood up straight, the list in tow. Closing the bag gingerly before throwing it off into the basement, he then unfurled the parchment scroll. Which soon began to roll on the floor deeper into the house.
"Ginny, are you planning a crusade against the British Isles?" Fred asked his sister.
"No, Fred. I'm not. Just a prank war against the Slytherins." Ginny explained.
"Why is there a Squiggles on this list three times?" George asked, inspecting the list. "Wait. Make that four."
"A house elf that helped one of the Slytherins pull a prank on Ron and Harry last year." Ginny said. "Ron told me about it."
"Wait… a house elf did that!?" Harry replied in disbelief.
"Ginny. You know that's one of our few rules. No pranking house elves. They are very important and do what they are told." George explained.
"Fine. Then change it to pranking his mistress Gwendolyne Pryor instead." Ginny replied, pouting.
"Done." Fred said, working to change the name.
"Wait… can you put Draco Malfoy on that list?" Harry asked.
"We've got him on here twice, mate." Fred told the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Can you put him on like… two to three more times?" Harry asked.
"Is that for him blabbing to the professors about Hagrid's dragon to get you, Ron, and Hermoine in trouble?" George asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We had to go into the Dark Forest because of him, which almost got me killed. Of course it is. Wait… how do you even know about that?" Harry replied, starting out bitterly before changing to a surprised tone.
"We have our methods, mate. We have our methods." Fred replied ominously.
"Besides, the boy does need an attitude adjustment." George said.
"So, Garrett. Have you got anyone?" Harry asked, looking at the near silent boy.
Garrett took the list, a smile appearing on his lips: "I do like how you have different spells and potions for each person." he said with a sense of pride.
Fred smirked at that. "Our dear friend Alejandro loves coming up with innovative ideas for spells and potions despite being in Ron and Harry's year. Right fascinated with spell and potion experimentation, that one. Remember his Exploding Diarrhea Potion that he had us test on Snape last year?" He said to his twin.
"Only reason we got away with that was because Headmaster Dumbledore found it hilarious!" George cackled in his seat, slapping his knee.
"That and Alejandro somehow found a way to make it scentless and tasteless. Otherwise, Snape would've figured it out himself." Fred giggled, trying to keep from roaring with laughter.
Harry looked at the list. "I noticed Crabbe and Goyle both have Laxative Potions next to their names. Why is that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We can't ever tell those two apart. For the entire year, we thought they were duplicates of the same person." The twins said in unison.
Harry smirked evilly at that. "For Snape this year, why not try combining the Exploding Diarrhea Potion with Laxative Potion?" He asked, snickering a bit.
"We would, but Alejandro said mixing those two potions into one drink or food could have disastrous results." Fred told him.
"Unless we put one in his drink and sneak the other into his food." Harry suggested, his smirk growing.
"Oh, Potter. That's so evil I'd swear you were in Slytherin. I love it!" Fred cackled with joy, getting a nervous smile from Harry.
"Remember what happened to Snape at one of last year's feasts because of the Exploding Diarrhea Potion?" George snickered.
"One of our best works if I do say so myself. I'm so glad we saw Alejandro's potential last year." Fred chipped in, rubbing his knuckles against his shirt.
"Wait… you two did that?" Harry asked, amazed at the news.
"Well, who else would be?" Fred asked in kind.
"Snape kept blowing up the lous after that feast every time he had to go!" Harry cackled.
"Do you have something in mind, Potter?" George asked.
Harry looked over the list and smirked at Malfoy's name. "Oh, that looks promising. Look at the first spell Alejandro cooked up for Malfoy for this year." He replied, putting his name just below the spell next to the blonde Slytherin's name.
The twins looked at it and grinned. "A 'Luminating Kick Me Curse,' huh? Causes the words 'Kick Me' to appear in glowing letters on the back of the victim that doesn't show up in mirrors. Not bad, Alejandro. Can't go wrong with a classic." Fred said with a grin.
With that the twins smiled before getting to plot. As they chatted amongst themselves, to everyone's shock, Garrett spoke up.
"Put the curse on a time limit and, if the curse is attempted to be broken before the time is up, the victim breaks out in hives for the remainder of the time. Have it last up to a day." Garrett finished stroking his chin in thought.
The twins tried not to burst out laughing at that. "Oh, that is even better! Alejandro is going to love that idea!" George snickered, trying not to bust a gut laughing.
"I'll start penning the letter to send that suggestion to him right after dinner!" Fred added with a grin.
Meanwhile: Malfoy Manor
The vast, brooding gothic manor of the Malfoy estate stood as an imposing edifice of an age long since passed, masochistically ignored by its occupants. It was a place that inspired no hope, no joy, nothing that any normal person would consider good things to feel. Which made it the perfect place for Draco, or at least the Draco that Hogwarts knew. Yet as he sat at his desk, a truly gargantuan one made of thrice cursed Black Isis wood, he felt an unholy shudder go up his spine.
"I sense… something wicked…" Draco muttered to himself.
He looked over his shoulder, as if expecting to find some kind of vicious phantom in the room with him. To his relief, there was nothing. But, for some reason, that did little to quell his strange feeling of dread. As if something was coming for him. Something he could not avoid or run from. Something… inevitably evil…
At Hogwarts
Snape sat at his office desk, writing away with his favorite quill. It was the usual thing of preparing for the school year. No doubt in his mind with the many challenges for his position. Yet as he wrote a letter to a potion supplier, he felt a disturbance, as if someone, or even a cabal, was plotting his very downfall…
"That doesn't narrow it down at all." Snape said with a shrug, before going back to his work. With a man with a past like his, there were many that would want such a fate against him.
Back at the Burrow
Percy sat at his favorite chair, reading the latest volume of "A Gentleman's Guide to Political Maneuvering." He was about to flip the page to a particularly juicy, Machievellian-topic'd chapter, when he was stopped by a familiar horror creeping up his spine. It was one he had had to deal with for 11 whole years of his life…
"No… those two can't be… but they are… may Merlin protect our souls…" Percy muttered in horror.
Uzumaki Ricky: Well, this was fun to write. Especially the ideas for prank potions and spells. Most of those were admittedly my idea. Hope you all like them.
Sharad the hedgehog: Welcome to the new day. Chapters, from now on, will be posted every other Wednesday and or Thursday. I hope you enjoy the insanity coming ☆