𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐆𝐎𝐅 𝟑

Emily felt as though she had barely lain down to steep in Ginny's room when she was being shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley.

"Time to go, Emily, dear," she whispered, moving away to wake Ginny and Hermione.

It was still dark outside. Ginny muttered indistinctly as her mother roused her.

"'S' time already?" said Ginny groggily.

Hermione rose from her bed like a zombie, her hair brushed up at all edges, she stood up and walked over to the mirror. Her mouth fell wide open after seeing her hair look like a birds nest. Ginny and Emily looked at each other thinking Hermione was going to scream but instead she began to laugh.

Ginny and Emily took one more look at Hermione and let out a laugh, all three of them giggled, rolling on the floor, kicking there legs in the air.

They finally got dressed, still laughing about Hermione's hair , the three of them headed downstairs into the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets.

He looked up as the girls entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly.

He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

"What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito-do I look like a Muggle, Hermione?"

"Yeah," said Hermione, smiling, "very good." The five boys appeared behind them and Ethan ruffled Emily's hair. "Geroff!" She shouted turning round to punch him but Harry pulled her to the side so she looked like a fish out of water.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

Emily knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another, but had never known any Hogwarts student to do it, and understood that it was very difficult.

"So they're still in bed?" said Ethan grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Emily asked.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done property it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."

Everyone around the table except Harry winced. "Er-splinched?" said Harry.

"They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. "So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind....."

Harry had a sudden vision of a pair of legs and an eyeball lying abandoned on the pavement of Privet Drive.

"Were they okay?" he asked, startled.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms, slower, but safer."