The Golden Quartet: Year 4

CHAPTER 5

At the Portkey, it was packed. Everyone was trying to leave to get back home. It wasn’t until sunrise when the large and fatigued group finally arrived back at the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley cried out at the sight of them, “Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!” She had seemingly been waiting for them in the front yard. She was still in her pajamas and her face looked pale and strained and she had a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet in her grasp as she ran over to them all.

“Arthur – I’ve been so worried – so worried-“

She threw her arms around her husband’s neck, the Daily Prophet slipped out of her hands and fell out in front of them with the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!

“You’re all right,” Mrs. Weasley pulled away and looked them all over with red eyes, “you’re alive… oh boys…”

She seized Fred and George and pulled them into a tight hug, causing their heads to bang together.

“Ouch! Mum – you’re strangling us-“

“I shouted at you before you left!” Mrs. Weasley began to sob. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn’t get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred… George…”

“Come on, now, Molly, we’re all perfectly okay,” Mr. Weasley said soothingly, pulling her away from the twins and leading her back toward the house. “Bill, pick up that paper. I want to read what it says…”

When they were all crammed into the kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, Bill handed his father the newspaper.

Everyone was exhausted, and Astrid laid her head down on the table and closed her eyes. She could hear Mr. Weasley mumbling what he read, and he gave a few heavy sighs, and muttered in an unsurprised tone, “Ah, of course, Rita Skeeter.”

He heaved a heavy sigh, “Molly, I’m going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over.”

“I’ll come with you, father,” Percy said promptly. “Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person.” He got up and left the kitchen.

“Arthur, you’re supposed to be on holiday! This hasn’t got anything to do with your office; surely they can handle this without you?” Mrs. Weasley said, looking upset.

“I’ve got to go, Molly,” Mr. Weasley said getting up. “I’ll just change into my robes and I’ll be off…”

“Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said suddenly. “Hedwig hasn’t arrived with a letter for me, has she?”

“Hedwig, dear? No… no, there hasn’t been any post at all.” Mrs. Weasley said, slightly distracted.

“I wonder if mum and dad know about what happened,” Athena whispered to Astrid. “I’ll write to them. Let them know what happened and that we’re okay. I think I’ll leave out the part where you run off to fight them all single handedly.”

Astrid yawned, “Why? That’s the best part…”

Athena rolled her eyes and shook her head, mumbling, “Reckless.”

“Guys, I’ve got to talk to you,” Harry whispered to his friends.

Astrid turned her head to Ron, “Your room?”

He nodded and they all got up to go to his room.

“What’s up, Harry?” Ron asked, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them.

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” Harry said. “On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again.”

Ron looked dumbstruck, Hermione looked thoroughly worried, and Astrid looked like she was ready for a fight.

“How is that possible? The last time your scar was hurting was when Voldemort was near you.” Astrid said and Ron cringed.

“I had been dreaming about him… him and Peter – you know, Wormtail,” Astrid scowled at Harry mentioning the rat. “I can’t remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill… someone.”

“’Someone’? Sweet of you to sugar-coat it, Harry, but I think we all know who this ‘someone’ is. You.” Astrid crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

Hermione looked horrified, more so than she already did.

“No, it was only a dream,” Ron said bracingly. “Just a nightmare.”

“Yeah, but was it, though?” Harry turned to look out the window at the brightening sky. “It’s weird, isn’t it? My scar hurts and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort’s sign’s up in the sky again.”

“Don’t – say – his – name!” Ron hissed through gritted teeth.

“Oh get over it Ron. It’s just a name! Don’t give it the power to strike fear into you!” Astrid said, annoyed.

“Do you remember what Professor Trelawney said? At the end of last year?” Harry went on.

Hermione’s terrified look vanished as she let out a snort. “Oh Harry, you aren’t going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?”

“You weren’t there,” Harry said. “You didn’t hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance – a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again… greater and more terrible than ever before… and he’d manage it because his servant was going to go back to him… and that night Wormtail escaped.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

“I sent a letter to Sirius,” Harry spoke, breaking the silence. “I told him about my dream. Maybe he’ll know what it means or maybe Amilia… I don’t know… they can give advice… he hasn’t replied yet.”

“They’ve been traveling all around. They could be in South America right now. It’ll be a while before you get a reply.” Astrid said.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said, looking out the window for any sign of Hedwig.

Astrid pushed herself off the wall and walked over to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she gave him a grin, “Let’s go play some Quidditch.”

~~~

It was the Sunday evening before they were to return to Hogwarts and everyone was busy with something. Percy and Mr. Weasley were talking about their work and how hectic it has been at the Ministry, especially because of Rita Skeeter’s writings in the Daily Prophet. Harry was polishing his Firebolt, Hermione was reading The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, Ron was playing chess with Bill, Mrs. Weasley was getting dinner ready, Athena was helping Fred and George with… homework – at least, that’s what they told Mrs. Weasley – and Astrid had just closed her final book her uncle had given her about advanced spells.

“I think you’d all better go upstairs and check that you’ve packed properly!” Mrs. Weasley said. “Come on now, all of you…”

“Oh, Astrid, I don’t know if you saw on the list for supplies, a formal gown was on it-“

Astrid turned to her sister, looking mortified, “A formal gown? Like… a dress?”

Athena rolled her eyes, “Yes, Astrid, a dress-“

“Why, for Merlin’s sake, would we need a dress for?”

“I don’t know, but-“

“I don’t want a dress. I can barely stand having to wear the school skirts!”

“I told Mrs. Weasley not to get dresses for us-“

“Oh, thank you!” Astrid hugged her sister tightly.

“-Because I put in the letter to mum if she could get our dresses.” Athena finished.

Astrid pushed her away. “Fine. But it better be fashionable.” Astrid hissed and then turned to go finish packing upstairs.

~~~

“Come on, Astrid,” Athena pushed a groggy Astrid out the door.

Astrid was dressed and ready, pulling her trunk in one hand, and holding Xander’s cage in the other. Xander was still sleeping and Astrid scowled.

They began down the stairs and there was a small rustle, “Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King’s Cross?” Mr. Weasley asked, putting on his robe. It looked like he was off to work quite early today, but Astrid was not surprised.

“Of course I will,” Mrs. Weasley replied. “You just look after Mad-Eye, we’ll be fine.”

“Mad-Eye?” Astrid jumped down the last of the stairs, startling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. “My uncle, Mad-Eye? What’s happened to our uncle?”

“Something’s happened to Uncle Al?” Athena asked finishing coming down the stairs.

A reassuring smile came onto Mr. Weasley’s face, “Oh, don’t worry dears, nothing serious. He just had a bit of an accident with some trash bins and possibly a stray cat.”

Astrid and Athena exchanged curious glances, “The older he gets, the stranger he becomes, I swear,” Astrid mumbled shaking her head.

“But not to worry! I’m just heading to sort it all out!”

“Thank you, Mr. Weasley,” Athena said with a kind smile.

Mr. Weasley then vanished with a loud crack and Mrs. Weasley led the girls to the kitchen to eat some breakfast with the rest of the household.

“Did someone say Mad-Eye?” Bill asked. “What’s he up to now?”

“He says someone tried to break into his house last night, but they think he’s just been mistaken,” Mrs. Weasley said, serving them.

“Mad-Eye Moody?” George said thoughtfully. “Isn’t he that nutter-“

“Hey!” Athena glared at George. “That’s my uncle!”

“Crazy runs in the family, I see,” Fred smirked, and then took a bite of his toast.

“And knowledge of dangerous spells, so I’d watch it if I were you,” Astrid said, returning Fred’s smirk.

“Moody was a great wizard in his time,” Bill said.

“Isn’t he an old friend of Dumbledore, as well?” Charlie said.

“Yeah, I think so. We haven’t spent much time with him in a long while. He likes his seclusion.” Athena said.

“Mad-Eye is your uncle? Your mum’s brother?” Harry asked. “I think I remember you mentioning him.”

Charlie nodded, “Yeah, half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though… the families of people he caught, mainly… and I heard he’s been getting really paranoid in his old age. Sees Dark Wizards everywhere.”

“When was the last time you two saw him?” Hermione asked the Black sisters.

They looked at each other, “Four years…?”

“Seven…?”

“It’s been a while.” Astrid stated in a final matter. “Still gives us presents, though!”

“Not that that’s all we care about!” Athena said quickly.

“Yeah, like she said, he likes his seclusion. Mum still sees him, though… but she never really talks about those visits…” Astrid faded off, beginning to wonder if her uncle really had lost his mind.

Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King’s Cross station, but Percy, apologizing most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.

“I just can’t justify taking more time off at the moment,” he said to them. “Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me.”

“Yeah, you know what, Percy?” George said in a serious tone. “I reckon he’ll know your name soon.”

~~~

The scarlet Hogwarts Express was already there when they all arrived at platform nine and three-quarters and fellow Hogwarts students were saying their farewells to their parents.

“I might be seeing you all sooner than you think,” Charlie said, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.

“Why?” Fred asked spiritedly.

“You’ll see,” He answered.

“Does this have something to do with the formal attire?” Astrid asked with suspicion.

“Sort of, but not with what I’m doing, though, that would make it a bit more interesting!” He laughed, but then quieted down, “But, uh, don’t mention any of this to Percy… it’s ‘classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,’ after all.”

“Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year,” Bill said with his hands in his pockets, looking wistfully at the train.

“Why?” George asked impatiently.

“You’re going to have an interesting year,” Bill said.

“We always have an interesting year,” Astrid mumbled under her breath to her friends who smiled.

“I might get some time off to come and watch a bit of it…” Bill said.

“A bit of what?” Ron asked, becoming annoyed.

But just then the train’s whistle sounded off and Mrs. Weasley began to push them onto the train.

“Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley,” Athena said, giving her a hug before jumping on the train.

“Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said.

“Oh it was my pleasure, dears,” Mrs. Weasley said with a kind smile. “I’d invite you for Christmas, but… well, I expect you’re all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with… one thing and another.”

“Mum!” Ron said irritably. “What do you three know that we don’t?”

“You’ll find out this evening, I expect,” Mrs. Weasley said, giving him a kiss and watching him step onto the train. “It’s going to be very exciting – mind you, I’m very glad they’ve changed the rules-“

“What rules?” Harry, Ron, Astrid, Fred and George said together.

The whistle blew again and everyone had boarded the train and they all quickly hurried into their compartments and then looked out the window to Mrs. Weasley.

“Tell us what’s happening at Hogwarts!” Fred bellowed out the window as the train began to speed away from Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie. “What rules are they changing?!”

But they only smiled and waved and before the train rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie had Disapparated.

They all turned to Astrid.

“What?”

“You can see the future!” Fred said.

“Tell us what they’re talking about!” George demanded.

“It doesn’t work like that!” She said irritably while rolling her eyes and then she left their compartment to go to hers and was followed by Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

“Bagman wanted to tell us what’s happening at Hogwarts,” Ron said grumpily, sitting down next to Harry. “At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won’t say. Wonder what-“

“Shh!” Hermione whispered suddenly, pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. They all leaned over slightly to listen and they heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.

“.. Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man’s such a Mudblood-lover – and Durmstrang doesn’t admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn’t like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do…”

“Well, if you want,” Astrid said suddenly to him, “I could demonstrate a few of those spells on you!” she whipped out her wand a look of horror passed over Draco’s face. She flicked her wand and his compartment door slammed shut and with another flick, his curtain came down.

With a huff she plopped back down in her seat and Ron was grinning, “I love it when she gets like that.”

“Hmpf, I wish Malfoy had gone to Durmstrang,” Hermione said angrily. “Then we wouldn’t have to put up with him.”

“Durmstrang is another wizarding school?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, somewhere off in Norway, I think,” Astrid said.

“It’s got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts,” Hermione said.

“Could you imagine if Malfoy had gone there?” Harry asked and they all looked off, wondering what it would be like.

“Hogwarts would be bliss,” Astrid determined.

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train went further north. The sky was dark and the windows were steamed up and when the lunch trolley came Harry and Astrid bought loads of food for them all to share.

A few of their other friends stopped by to say their hello’s like Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom.

“Gran didn’t want to go,” Neville said miserably as they talked about the Quidditch World Cup. “Wouldn’t buy tickets. It sounded amazing though.”

“Sorry you couldn’t be there, Neville. I was amazing! We were in the Top Box-“

“For the first and last time in your life, Weasley.”

Draco was standing up with his two goons right beside him.

“Don’t remember asking you to join us, Malfoy,” Harry said coolly.

Draco looked over at Ron’s dress robes that he had laid out to show (and complain) to his friends. “Look at this!” He seized them and held them up looking quite delighted. “Weasley, you weren’t thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean – they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety…”

“Eat dung, Malfoy!” Ron said, going the same moldy color of his dress robes and he snatched them back out of Malfoy’s grip.

“So… going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There’s money involved as, you know… you’d be able to afford some decent robes if you won…”

“What are you talking about?” Ron snapped.

“Are you going to enter?” Malfoy repeated. “I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you? And I’d be surprised if you didn’t enter, Black. Bet you think you’re invincible, don’t you?”

“Only when up against weak and pathetic people like you and those fools,” Astrid said nodding at him and his friends, earning a scowl.

“Either you tell us what you’re talking about or go away,” Hermione said testily.

A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy’s pale face. “Don’t tell me you don’t know? You’ve got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don’t even know? My god, my father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, father’s always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father’s too junior to know about it, Weasley. Yes, they probably don’t talk about important stuff in front of him-“

“I’ve had enough of you, Malfoy, as have we all!” Astrid shot up and Malfoy stumbled back. “Piss off!” With one last scowl, he turned and left back to his compartment and shut the door behind them.

Ron looked livid and his bad mood didn’t waver much throughout the rest of the train ride and he was still glowering a bit when the Hogwarts Express pulled into the Hogsmeade station.

As they stepped off the train there was a roar of thunder overhead. The rain was now coming down thick and fast and Astrid looked disgruntled. “Umbrella’s might be a muggle invention, but they’d really come in handy right now.”

Just then a hundred horseless carriages came to a halt and Astrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed into one and a moment later, they began their way up toward Hogwarts.