PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: Grandma Kate

Story: Ginny's Fourth Year at Hogwarts

Part: 9:What Happens at Hogwarts... June 1-21, 1996

Rating: Everyone

Setting: Pre-HBP

Status: Completed

Reviews: 3

Words: 3,072

Updated: June 22, 2008, 1:49pm

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9:What Happens at Hogwarts... June 1-21, 1996

The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm just borrowing the characters for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Bold Face Type indicates a direct quote from Chapter Thirty, Grawp, or Chapter Thirty-one, O.W.L.s, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

A/N This story is told from Molly's Weasley's point of view and parallels Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the summer after it.

Molly and Arthur were just finishing breakfast in the kitchen of The Burrow on Monday, the first of June, when Pig suddenly hurled himself through the open window. Molly quickly took the note he was carrying and gave him an owl treat. Pig flew over to Errol's cage and immediately fell asleep.

'What could be so important that Ron's owl would be sent off during the night?' said Arthur, as Molly opened the small note.

'It's in Ron's writing,' said Molly as she read,

He didn't let the Quaffle in.

His sister caught the Snitch.

Gryffindor wins the Cup!

'Much better words to Weasley is our King… Fred and George will be absolutely chuffed!' exclaimed Arthur. 'I'm so proud that Ron is playing Keeper well and that Ginny caught the Snitch.'

'Just as you caught it so many times when you were the Seeker for Gryffindor,' reminded Molly with pride in her voice.

Molly wrote a quick note to Charlie telling him that his sister was following in their father's and his Snitch-catching broom trail and that Ron was a fine Keeper. Arthur took it to the Ministry to go out with the international mail as he went off to work as proud as could be. He said he'd let Bill know the good news.

Molly went out in the garden and harvested some greens to chill for a salad for dinner and watered her garden well before coming in to do the usual Monday chores. She put the sheets and towels in the laundry cauldron and then decided to make a cake to send off to the children to celebrate the Gryffindor victory. She must have spent too much time away from the kitchen because when she started to take the cake out of the oven, its voice chided her, 'You would have had too brown a crust if you hadn't come now!'

'A chocolate cake always has a dark crust,' she reminded her oven, as she put the cake pans on a cooling rack. She turned toward the kitchen door as she heard the popping sounds that the twins made when they Apparated.

'Talking to that cheeky oven again?' said Fred, kissing her on the cheek.

'It seems to have got to be more of a nag lately,' added George, also giving her a peck before sitting down at the table.

'Did you hear about the match?' asked Molly, pouring boiling water from her wand into the teapot.

'Lee got word to us as soon as it was over,' said Fred, helping himself to left-over toast.

'He said that Ron was magnificent. He only let the Ravenclaw Chasers score early on,' added George, going to the cooling cupboard for some apple butter to spread on his toast.

'Ginny beat Cho Chang to the Snitch fair and square,' said Fred, using his wand to make more toast.

'Cho's such a hosepipe that she cried when she lost.' George said, chewing thoughtfully.

Molly nodded at this information and turned on the radio. The three of them listened to Days of Destiny and Bedside at St Brigid's while Molly put icing on the cake. They listened with growing apprehension because, while Smyla was still doing good deeds, Lyla was in deep financial trouble. The evil twin started wishing for an identical twin with a spotless credit rating so she could make her fall into a coma and assume her identity.

Fred and George were shocked! Even if Lyla did not know about her twin, she should not want to hurt her. However, they approved of Healer O'Malley's Patronus instructions. They exchanged glances and each thought of the day when they left Hogwarts. Suddenly, a pair of silver Orangutans were doing acrobatic tricks all over the kitchen. Molly was impressed.

'Harry taught us to think about something spectacular,' said Fred.

'And look what we can do,' added George. 'We love our big monkeys. Too bad they're not covered with long orange hair.'

Molly fed her sons lunch and gave them some leftovers to take back to their flat for dinner. They wrote a congratulatory note to their brother and sister –

You know who you are. SO WE WON'T NAME EITHER OF YOU.

You know what you did. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU.

We hope you escape soon. IT'S NICE IN THE REAL WORLD.

Love, Gred and FORGE

Molly smiled as they passed the note back and forth — taking turns writing. She gave them the cake to take to Arthur to put in the Ministry post along with their note.

*****

Molly and Arthur settled into a predictable early June routine. Arthur was working long hours between his job at the Ministry and his surveillance duties for the Order. He'd been doing Molly's assignments along with his own since Sturgis Podmore returned from Azkaban after serving his six-month sentence. He was adamant that she could not put herself in that much danger. Thy both went to meetings at the headquarters on Grimmauld Place as least once a week and were increasingly concerned by how gaunt and desperate Sirius was looking.

Molly kept busy with her garden, her dueling practice with Corrine, and her Walk and Talk group. She also began to get The Burrow ready for the children to return from Hogwarts for the summer. She was hopeful that nothing unexpected would happen with just a few weeks left in the term. Therefore, she was not concerned when she heard nothing from the children at Hogwarts until after the middle of June.

A school owl arrived early in the morning of Thursday, June 17, with a scroll. Molly gave him some toast and unrolled the drawing.

Ginny had outdone herself with this animated cartoon. It showed a night sky with stars. One side of the picture had several boys and girls with telescopes in a tall tower. Molly realized it must be the Astronomy Tower and that the students were probably taking their O.W.L.s in Astronomy.

On the other side of the picture, Hagrid burst from his house. Five wizards surrounded him with wands drawn. A short toad-faced witch dressed in pink jumped up and down excitedly. The bubble coming from her mouth said, 'YOU ARE FIRED!' A bubble grew from Hagrid's mouth with the text, 'Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!'…

Suddenly, a tall Tartan-clad witch sprinted into the picture. The bubble trailing out behind her read, 'How dare you! Leave him alone! Alone, I say!'… Four of the wizards surrounding Hagrid turned and hit Professor McGonagall in the middle of her chest with Stunning Spells. She was lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.

"COWARDS!' bellowed Hagrid… He then hit all but one of his attackers and picked up Fang.

'Get him, get him!' screamed Umbridge. The remaining wizard backed away from Hagrid, who had Fang hanging around his neck. The toad-faced witch sent one last Stunning Spell after him, but it missed. And Hagrid, running full-pelt toward the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.

Other witches and wizards carried Professor McGonagall into the castle and to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey shook her head and her bubble read, 'She must go immediately to the Spell Damage ward at St Mungo's.'

Molly put the drawing down on the kitchen table. She was shocked. 'Umbridge fired Hagrid and then had four of her minions hurt Minerva. I must go to visit her immediately.' She put through a Floo call to Arthur and asked him to meet her at St Mungo's, changed into clean robes, and Apparated to the Wizarding hospital.

The Healer in charge of McGonagall's case told Molly that the old professor was still unconscious but that she was welcome to sit by her bedside. He said that she had been hit with four Stunning Spells all at once. The combined spells had lifted her into the air so that she fell from a great height onto her back on the rocky ground. He thought that she would probably need to walk with a cane for a while after she was released from hospital. Molly sat in silence next to Minerva for a short time before Arthur came. He was very concerned but said that he needed to get back to the Ministry to notify people from the Order about Umbridge's attack on Minerva and Hagrid.

Molly said that she was quite sure that Albus Dumbledore had his own way of being aware of everything that happened at Hogwarts but volunteered to go and tell Sirius in person. He needed to know that the meeting scheduled for that night would not take place.

Molly Apparated to the park across from Grimmauld Place and walked across the street, up the front steps, and rang the doorbell. Kreacher answered the door, muttering, 'Blood traitor,' and claimed not to know where his master was. Old Mrs Black screamed so loudly that Sirius came down the stairs and beckoned Molly in as he drew the curtain in front of his mother's picture. He embraced Molly and said, 'Merlin's beard, I've missed you. Fred and George come by some evenings and bring me leftovers that you've given them. Bill is very good about checking on me a couple of times a week, as well. He says Fleur is worried that I am not eating properly. Those are wonderful boys you have raised.'

Molly told Sirius what Dolores Umbridge had done to Hagrid and Minerva. She asked him if he had any way of getting in touch with Professor Dumbledore, but Sirius said that Albus always contacted him either by owl or through the Floo connection.

'You and I both know that Voldemort and his followers are going to try and lure Harry to the Ministry to get him to take the Prophecy,' said Sirius bitterly. 'He's the only one who can get it off the shelf. Harry may not be safe at Hogwarts any more.'

Molly blanched. 'Sirius, promise me that you will stay here and wait for instructions from Professor Dumbledore. Please don't do anything rash. Minister Fudge would love to capture you!' She embraced him as if he were one of her brothers and said, 'Harry is depending on being able to live with you when you are exonerated. Maybe you and he can go on a Stubby Boardman Reunion Tour when this is all over, singing for your supper.'

Sirius gave his barking laugh, leaned over and kissed Molly on the cheek, and said, 'Molly dear, all we can do is what we think is best under the circumstances.'

Molly went out the front door with tears in her eyes but pulled herself together and Apparated home safely. She started dinner while she waited for news from Arthur. She had a dreadful premonition that something very bad was about to happen

When Arthur returned that evening, he said that he had informed Bill and the other members of the Order what had happened to Minerva. Molly told him that she had stressed to Sirius that he must stay where he was but that he was very worried about Harry, especially now that Minerva was in St Mungo's. Neither Arthur nor Molly felt like eating outside to enjoy the fine June weather. They ate quietly, went up to bed early, and slept fitfully.

*****

Arthur went off to work at the Ministry early on Friday morning while Molly tried to get her mind off Harry and Sirius and the horrible woman who was the headmistress now at Hogwarts. She tended her garden with great vigor and threw herself into cooking. Even plot twists on Days of Destiny and Bedside at St Brigid's could not take her mind off what was happening.

When Arthur returned home that night, he asked Molly to sit down at the table and poured them each a small glass of elderflower wine.

Molly looked puzzled. 'What are we celebrating?'

'It's a long and rather complicated story,' began Arthur. 'I heard some very troubling things at the Ministry this morning. A great deal happened in the night. I don't know where to begin except to assure you that Madame Pomfrey says that Ron and Ginny will recover.'

'What happened to Ron and Ginny?' Molly asked in a trembling voice.

'Ron apparently has a concussion and some marks from the tentacles of a brain. A Stunning Spell hit Ginny but there seems to be no damage from that. A Death Eater grabbed her by the ankle and broke it but Madame Pomfrey mended it, good as new.'

'Who was casting Stunning Spells at Hogwarts? How could Death Eaters get to our children?!'

Arthur took a sip of his wine. 'Well, Molly, that's part of the problem. The children weren't at Hogwarts. They were at the Ministry with Harry and Hermione and Luna and Neville.'

'Are they hurt, too? How could they get to the Ministry? Why would they want to go there?'

'They all rode there on Thestrals because Harry thought that You-Know-Who was torturing Sirius. It was a trap, naturally. About a dozen Death Eaters came to the Department of Mysteries and chased the children all over. Madame Pomfrey took care of all of their injuries. Harry has some bruises and spell damage. Hermione has some very sore ribs from a Stunning Spell. Both she and Luna were knocked unconscious. Neville got a broken nose and broke his father's old wand.' Arthur paused to catch his breath but then continued, slowly.

'Eventually You-Know-Who himself came to the Department of Mysteries. Albus Dumbledore beat him in a duel. Fudge and some of his underlings saw him and his Death Eaters there so he is about to issue a statement admitting that Albus and Harry have been telling the truth.'

Molly nodded. 'I have had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen ever since I talked to Sirius yesterday.'

Arthur paused again and then went and stood by Molly with his arm draped over her shoulder. 'There is no way to soften the really bad news. Sirius was attacked by his cousin Bellatrix. She hit him with a nasty spell and he fell through the veil in the Department of Mysteries. She tried to torture Harry.'

'Oh no! Not Sirius!' Molly sobbed. 'He didn't exactly promise me he'd stay in Grimmauld Place. As a mater of fact, he kissed me good-bye yesterday.' Molly was weeping profusely now.

'I don't feel much like eating anything tonight. How about some toast and a big cup of your special hot chocolate?'

"Shouldn't we go to Hogwarts to be sure the children are all right?' asked Molly with a trembling voice.

'Dumbledore is back as Headmaster and would rather not draw attention to the children's role in the events at the Ministry. There was a great deal of damage to the Atrium and the statues in it. And Dolores Umbridge went missing and suffered some sort of trauma in the Forbidden Forest.'

Molly began to dish up dinner out of habit but stopped and made just the toast and hot chocolate that Arthur had suggested. 'We can always eat a proper dinner tomorrow.'

They went up to bed in silence and cuddled until they fell asleep.

On Saturday morning, a school owl arrived with an informative note. Molly read it aloud to Arthur while they finished breakfast.

Dear Mr and Mrs Weasley,

Both Ronald and Genevra are making satisfactory progress recovering from the injuries they suffered this past Thursday night. I will send home some ointment that you must rub into Ronald's remaining scars twice daily. I am sure his occasionally confused thoughts will clear up as soon as he is back with his family. He will be rejoining his housemates no later than next Monday. Your daughter's ankle was broken very badly but is now completely healed. She has already been released. All six of the students injured on their trip will recover soon.

Professor McGonagall was informed that you came to visit her while she was unconscious so has asked me thank you for your kindness and to update you on her condition. She is almost completely recovered and is expected to return to Hogwarts tomorrow afternoon. She also thought you might be interested to hear that Dolores Umbridge, former High Inquisitor and former acting headmistress, is recovering slowly from exposure in the Forbidden Forest.

Sincerely,

Madame Pomfrey

'It sounds like Poppy Pomfrey has everything under control,' commented Arthur.

Sunday morning, a special edition of The Daily Prophet was delivered by owl. Arthur read the headline aloud to Molly, 'HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS'.

'Go on, read what it says,' said Molly.

'In a brief statement Friday night, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this country and is active once more.'

'It's too long to read out loud,' said Molly. 'Just read it and tell me what it says.'

Arthur started to read the article, but paused to chuckle, 'Fudge calls him Lord- Thingie. In addition, the Ministry is going to publish guidelines. Probably beginning, 'Insert head firmly in sand.'

'Does it say anything about the children or Sirius?'

'No, but it does admit that You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening.'

"Anything else?'

'It mentions that Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster again. It calls Harry the Boy-Who-Lived but it doesn't say much else about him in this article.' Arthur turned several pages and said, 'Molly, you will not believe what's in the Daily Prophet!! It has the complete article about Harry that Rita Skeeter wrote for The Quibbler. I bet Xenophilius Lovegood charged them a pretty Knut for permission to publish his exclusive.'

'I wouldn't mind reading that again,' said Molly. 'I wonder if the Toad is in any position to forbid students to read it.'

'Or even, read it herself,' finished Arthur, with a laugh.

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