The Enemy's Ball

22. Letters and Words

Harry stared down at his breakfast a week later. He blinked slowly and put a piece of toast in his mouth. He was tired. His friends were going about their days like nothing was wrong, Hermione was a chipper as ever and Ron was slightly grumpy, but none of that was new. But Harry, Harry was exhausted.

He hadn't been sleeping well. Not well at all. He was too worried about those in St. Mungos. He knew he should trust the potion to do its job, after all, it helped Fred. But he couldn't bring himself to stop stressing over them. The morning owls swooped in and dropped their mail. A thick letter landed in Ron's cereal and he groaned.

"Why me?" He whined.

Hermione tittered, "I do believe that color letter is a job invitation." The letter in question, once they'd magicked the milk off of it, was cream colored with a stamp in the top corner with the writing, "Job application forms. TO: GOLDEN TRIO"

"They couldn't be bothered to send them separately? What are we a triple package or something?" Harry complained.

"Yeah! And why did it have to land in my breakfast? It could have been in either of yours."

"Do they expect us to all live together or something after school?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron's complaints. "Why would they send us the same forms?" Hermione took the letter from Ron and peeled it open. She shrieked and threw it onto the table as soon as she did.

Small fireworks whizzed out and popped in the ceiling of the Great Hall. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! Pop on down to our shop in Diagon Alley and coming soon: Hogsmeade! Joke products of all kinds for sale.

The fireworks fizzled out but then more came shooting from the letter, eliciting another shriek from Hermione.

Thanks for the free advertisement Ronnykins. How'd you like breakfast? Give an apology to Mcgonagall for us? Fred I think the firework charm is still going. Oh! Well, sorry Headmistress- And as for the rest of you! Half-off sales this week!

The fireworks fizzled away for good this time, and the students began laughing. Even Mcgonagall, she looked like she was desperately trying to keep a frown, but Harry could see the everso tiny twitches in the corner of her mouth. Murmurs of joke products started up around the hall.

"Students, your attention please?" the Headmistress said. A very angry looking Filch was by her side, "Mr. Filch has requested I remind you that along with many other items, everything from the Weasleys' shop is banned." She squinted around the room, "Any student found in possession of such products will be given a detention." Filch grumbled something and Mcgonagall pinched the bridge of her nose, "A detention will be given and house points will be taken away."

Complaints rang out from the students and Mcgonagall ignored them, going back to her breakfast.

"Geez, it's like he hates everything fun. He's like a dementor, Filch is." Dean said to the table.

Harry laughed and ate his breakfast with a little more energy. He fingered the letter he'd received during Mcgonagall's speech. It came with a dark brown owl, almost black really, that had carefully placed its parcel on the table next to his plate. He read the addressee, Remus Lupin, room 23, St. Mungo's Wizard Hospital.

Ron grabbed the trick mail back from Hemione and stared at it as the letters on the outside morphed into other words. He shook his head, "Those two." The previous address on it was from the Ministry of Magic. Now it read,

To Ronnykins Weasley. Great Hall, fourth bench on the eighth year table, bowl of cereal.

Hermione laughed at it, "There's still some more stuff inside!" Ron squinted suspiciously and tipped it over, so the last letter fell out.