Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 60

***

As it turned out, Fred had accidentally on purpose dropped a Ton-Tongue Toffee at the Dursleys' house and Dudley — who had been on a diet the whole summer — had picked it up and ate it, ending up with a four feet tongue as Mr. Weasley tried to help him to shrink it back through the chaos.

Although Mrs. Weasley made sure to have a strict word with the twins after finding out about this, meanwhile Jenna watched them with amusement in the kitchen. Molly really reminded Jenna of her own mother, whenever she and James used to cause trouble around the house.

     That was Euphemia's big rule: no pranking inside the house. Although Fleamont always used to find their little tricks amusing.

      Harry seemed to be enjoying his stay at the Weasleys to a great extent. But all their excitement increased as the day of the Quidditch World Cup arrived and they had to wake up extremely early to take a portkey.

     Jenna really wished that she could go along with them, missing the memories she had made with her friends the time they had all gone together to the World Cup game in France.

     Although all she could do this time was to take long naps on their sofa or chase the gnomes in their garden whenever she was thoroughly bored, so she could act more like a cat.

     Jenna already missed being around Sirius and felt as if she hadn't seen him enough throughout summer. She felt lonely even though she was surrounded by people, because she missed talking to everyone and making silly jokes.

      It had been over a decade since she had been around a wholesome family, and the Weasleys made her miss the feeling of having a family to herself more than ever. She missed the Sunday lunches with her parents and brother, along with Sirius and Lily. It felt like centuries ago.

     The morning after the Quidditch World Cup, Crookshanks was sitting beside the windowsill, looking outside the beautiful little garden. But that was when a delivery owl flew forward and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet down at their door before flying away.

     Feeling bored, Crookshanks hopped out of the open window and grabbed the newspaper between her teeth, carrying it inside. She took it to where Mrs. Weasley was sitting in the living room, knitting, and the cat then jumped on the couch, leaving the Daily Prophet beside her.

     "Oh, thank you," said Mrs. Weasley with surprise, not having expected a cat to behave this way.

      But when Mrs. Weasley picked up the newspaper and opened it, she forgot about everything else and clapped a hand to her mouth the moment she caught sight of the front page.

    "Oh, Lord!" She let out a loud gasp and dropped the Daily Prophet back on the couch, hurrying out of the house, looking horrified.

     Jenna had no idea what was going on and had become curious, but she let Mrs. Weasley leave the house fully before going to see what was written in the paper, seeing as it wasn't really normal for a cat to be able to read.

But the second she took a look at the paper, her heart sank in her chest when she read the title which said, 'SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP'. And beneath it there was a large picture of the Dark Mark splattered across the sky.

Jenna felt her mouth go dry at the sight of, her heart pounding in her chest. It felt as if her memories of the first wizarding war flashed before her eyes; the news of deaths, of disappearances, and the tortures.

     It was the fear of losing your loved ones and never seeing them again that still haunted her. Or the horror of seeing the Dark Mark above your house after coming home, knowing that they had committed yet another murdered.

If the Dark Mark had appeared at the Quidditch Cup, that meant that the Death Eaters had attacked, while Harry and the others were all there.

***

The next few hours passed like ages to both Jenna and Mrs. Weasley, while they stayed outside the house, their gazes fixed on the horizon as they waited for everyone to return, hoping that they were all safe and unharmed after the terrifying attacks of the previous night.

Mrs. Weasley kept pacing up and down the lane, meanwhile Jenna remained at the windowsill in her cat form, anxiously glancing around for any sign of them.

      She remembered this familiar sickening feeling vividly. The feeling of waiting for someone you cared for, but not knowing whether they were harmed or not.

     She could remember the night when both Sirius and James had gone on a mission for the Order, and she was awaiting them with Lily and Euphemia at the Potter Manor. But when the two had returned, they saw that James had taken a curse and his face was bleeding.

     It made Jenna's heart ache with worry as she thought of Harry. And not to mention he had said that his scar had hurt through summer. What if Voldemort was truly coming back?

     But the horrible moments of waiting finally came to an end and Jenna got to her paws when from afar she saw the Weasleys emerging through the woods along with Harry and Hermione, walking forward. The sense of relief washed over her as she watched them all walk toward the Burrow, none of them looking hurt.

     "Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" Mrs. Weasley cried out, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them. "Arthur — I've been so worried — so worried —"

      She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck. Jenna's yellow eyes eyes was still fixed on Harry from afar, still trying to make sure that he was all right.

      "You're all right," Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes, "you're alive... Oh boys..."

       And to everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.

      "Ouch! Mum — you're strangling us —"

       "I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred... George..."

      "Come on, now, Molly, we're all fine," said Mr. Weasley comfortingly, though everyone still looked windswept after the events of last night.

      Jenna was relieved for now, but this was the exact reason she had to return to the school with Harry, and to keep an eye on him. Only if she knew what scandals were to fall upon Hogwarts in their upcoming fourth year.