The Troubled Wizard (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 3

"Mum! Do you know where the Quidditch set went?"

"Ron used it yesterday, ask him."

"How many 'p's are in apparate?"

"Two, dear. And there's an 'e' at the end of transfigure."

"When's dinner going to be ready?"

"Any minute. Now go wash your hands."

"I see you have your hands full."

Mrs. Weasley turned around to see the smiling face of her husband. "You're home early. How was work?"

"Oh, you know..." Arthur leaned down and gave her a short kiss. "The usual. You need a hand?"

"Could you finish setting the table?" she asked turning back to the stove. "I asked Fred and George to do it, but I think they got distracted."

"Fred and George? Distracted? Oh, that just couldn't be!" she swatted him on the shoulder as he walked away laughing.

"Ok just a few more carrots..." with a wave of her wand, the carrots diced themselves and dropped into the pot she was stirring. "There. That should do it. Kids! Dinner's ready!"

The sound of feet pounding down the stairs filled the house. The Weasley kids, minus Bill and Charlie who were still out of the country and Percy who had moved out after he graduated, quickly took a seat around the large dining room table.

"Wow mum!" Fred grinned, "This is delicious! You are just the most amazing cook to have ever graced the earth!"

"A true goddess among men!" George chipped in.

Molly rolled her eyes as her husband chuckled. "Ok, what do you want?"

George gasped in feign hurt, "You think so little of us? Honestly woman, I'm shocked. Just shocked." Fred nodded in agreement.

"Ok boys," Arthur gave them a look, "Give it up. What are you scheming?"

"Nothing at all, dad!" Fred smiled at him. "We were just wondering if we could maybe... have 20 galleons..."

"20 galleons!" Molly said in surprise. "What do you need that for?"

"Um... a new cage for Errol..." George muttered.

Arthur sighed, not sure he wanted to know the answer to his next question. "What's wrong with his current cage?"

"We uh... may have... or may not have!" Fred quickly added, "Used it to test out our knew exploding crackers."

"Unfortunately," George continued, "They worked a bit too well... we tried to use reparo on it... but well..." he held up a bucket of molten metal, "I think it just made it worse..."

Ginny and Ron started snickering as they watched the vein on their mother's forehead pop out. "YOU IDIOTS! ON WHAT PLANET DID YOU THINK THAT PUTTING EXPLOSIVES IN A BIRDCAGE WAS A GOOD IDEA?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MINDS?!"

The twins sat in stunned silence as Ron and Ginny started wheezing. Even Arthur had to keep himself from cracking a smile. He coughed into his hand and gave a stern look to the boys. "I'm very disappointed in you two. You will be severely punished. You'll be..." he looked to his wife for ideas.

"You'll be on dish duty for the rest of the summer!" she said harshly. "And no dessert tonight!"

They grumbled a bit but inevitably agreed that the punishment was fair. Ron chuckled, "Couldn't you have left Errol in there when you lit the explosives? Then that way we could have gotten a new owl too!"