Death is but the Next Great Adventure

Hormones, Sports Matches & Death Eaters

In the last chapter: Voldemort's plans for the next year are set into motion. Phil and Harry keep in touch. Harry has a vision of Voldemort talking to Barty about the Triwizard Tournament. Harry finds out he if Voldemort's most recent Horcrux. Harry gets invited to the Quidditch World Cup by Ginny. Harry finally combines all of the Horcruxes together into the locket.

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Author's notes: Hello! Just a brief note, this chapter is the end of what I have pre-written already, which means I won't be able to update as quickly as I have so far. I usually update every 1-2 weeks--though I aim for every week--so just be prepared for less frequent updates. Thank you to all of you that have made it this far, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Halfway through the last month of summer holiday, Harry was sent through the floo to the Weasley residence—so endearingly dubbed the 'burrow'—the night before the Quidditch World Cup. The stacked, lop-sided house was lively with a bustling pack of Weasleys when Harry stepped through. It was such a contrast to Grimmauld Place with his guardians that Harry just stood there for several solid seconds as his brain tried to quickly figure out what to do next. Before he had enough time to do just that, he was spotted by Mrs. Weasley and pulled into another uncomfortably 'familial' hug like the one he'd been given at his birthday celebration.

As soon as the hug ended, he was swept away into the kitchen and pushed down into a seat at the table, across from what he could only assume to be the two eldest Weasley children. Mrs. Weasley soon disappeared, leaving Harry alone to introduce himself to the others, though she could be heard berating the twins the next floor up for their mischief.

The burrow was in constant motion as people went up and down the stairs, weaving around each other in the small space with natural ease, nicking bits of food while Mrs. Weasley wasn't there to see it. At one point, Harry even saw Hermione and Ginny, but they were only passing through and were discussing something with ducked heads, conspiring smiles, and faintly pink cheeks. Harry had caught bits that sounded suspiciously like the names of a few of the quidditch players Sirius had tried to teach him about since finding out that he'd be going to the World Cup. They gave him a brief greeting, then disappeared back upstairs with their stolen snacks in hand.

Harry didn't mind, though, because his attention was caught by the two eldest Weasley brothers. William—who insisted on being called 'Bill'—and Charlie. Harry knew vague details about them from what Ginny had told him, but he was eager to discuss more with them now that they were there.

Bill worked as a renowned curse-breaker who traveled all over the world for his work, freelancing with most of his work coming from various goblin banks and government establishments. Harry had been fascinated to hear about some of the more obscure curses Bill had come across and how he was able to break them without having the counter-curse most needed to get rid of a curse without fulfilling it. Bill was soft spoken and a little closed off, but exceedingly polite and definitely someone very easy to like.

Charlie was more of a half-way point between the twins and Bill, personality wise. He was just as kind and polite, but clearly an extrovert and had undoubtedly spent quite some time in the past as a prankster just like his brothers. That mischievous and calculating glint in his eye was something he saw almost exclusively with the twins and Sirius—notorious pranksters that they are.

Charlie worked as a 'dragonologist' studying dragons at a preserve in Romania. Although Bill clearly enjoyed his work, Charlie seemed to be the one that lived for his work. It was clear after only a few minutes of conversation that the younger of the two was devoted to his career and had that same sense of fascination for dangerous creatures as Hagrid seemed to have. While chatting, Harry couldn't help but think of the Gringotts dragon that he'd laid to rest while retrieving Helga's cup.