Coup de Foudre [Fred Weasley] [4]

⚡️ Chapter 14 ⚡️

Mr. Weasley came clattering down the stairs, causing Vega, Harry, Ron, Fred and George to flatten themselves against the wall so they could let him go past. His robes were on back-to-front but that didn't stop him from hurtling straight down and off toward the direction of the kitchen in urgency.

When the rest of the teenagers got into the kitchen behind him, they found Mrs. Weasley rummaging anxiously in the drawers – "I've got a quill here somewhere!"

On the other than, Mr. Weasley was bending over the fire, talking to Mr. Diggory, whose head was sitting i n the middle of the flames like a large, bearded egg. Mr. Diggory was talking very fast, completely unperturbed by the sparks flying around him and the flames licking his ears.

"... Muggle neighbours heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-do-you-call-'ems – please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there –"

It was a very normal sight for Vega, Ron, Fred and George so the four of them casually walked forward – but when Vega caught sight of Harry's astonished expression, she remembered that it was definitely not normal for him. He only knew of Floo Powder's full-body transportation only.

"You can use the Floo Network for head-only 'transport' as well," Vega informed Harry, amused at his reaction. "It is mainly used for quick communication, as you can see,"

"Here!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands.

"– it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," Mr. Diggory went on, talking rather quickly. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off – if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur –"

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" Mr. Weasley asked, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes. Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" Vega muttered, stopping to look over in wonderment.

"Says he heard an intruder in his yard," Mr. Diggory replied, not sounding much amused. "Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins,"

"What did the dustbins do?" Mr. Weasley asked, scribbling frantically.

"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," Mr. Diggory said. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up –"

Mr. Weasley groaned, cutting Mr. Diggory off, and questioning, "And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," Mr. Diggory's head said, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it – think of his record – we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department – what are exploding dustbins worth?"

This wasn't something that Vega had heard for the first time. Dora had mentioned stuff like that about Moody as well, but she had been much more amused about it. Mr. Diggory wasn't so.

"Might be a caution," Mr. Weasley responded, still writing very fast, his brow furrowed. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"

"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," Mr. Diggory answered. "But they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties,"

"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out of the kitchen again.

With nothing else to do, Mr. Diggory's head looked around at Mrs. Weasley.