Friday, the day before the Quidditch World Cup begins.
In the morning, a brand new car drove into Ottery St Catchpole.
Hermione arrived.
Originally, Mrs. Weasley was supposed to pick her up, but Mr. Granger thought it was too much trouble for them, so he followed the address in the letter and brought Hermione over.
To express his gratitude, he also brought a large number of dental care kits as gifts.
"Oh, this car is so beautiful..." Mr. Weasley's eyes were sparkling as he looked at the silver sedan driven by Mr. Granger.
Ever since he lost his old Ford due to Ron, Mrs. Weasley has strictly forbidden him from buying another one.
So now he could only satisfy his cravings by looking, circling the car and occasionally lying on the ground to examine the wheel patterns.
Mr. Granger wasn't surprised by his behavior and thoughtfully handed him the car keys.
Nothing strange about it; when he first encountered the Magic World, his performance wasn't much better than Mr. Weasley's.
Mrs. Weasley also came out, inviting Mr. Granger to stay for lunch.
Mr. Granger shook his head, saying he had patients coming soon and declined.
He's a dentist, and Mr. Weasley was quite interested in that profession, so after Mr. Granger left, he took those dental care kits aside to study them.
Mrs. Weasley then called Ginny, asking her to take Hermione on a tour of the Shabby Residence.
Experiencing a Wizard Family for the first time, Hermione found everything here very novel; it was a completely different feeling from being at school.
In the afternoon, Cedric and Cho also arrived, and the Shabby Residence became crowded with people, as Fred and George remarked that they'd never felt the house so packed.
Kael wrote a letter to Conna, asking if she wanted to join as well.
When Ladon returned, he brought back not only a brief reply agreeing to meet at the venue tomorrow but also a small bottle containing a bluish potion.
This was a toxic Magic Potion often used to clear household pests.
...
Around five in the afternoon, Mr. Weasley prepared to pick up Harry last. Since preparations for dinner were underway, picking up Harry fell to him.
"Dad, can we go with you?" Fred and George volunteered.
They hurried back from Kael's upon hearing the news about picking up Harry.
"Alright," Mr. Weasley agreed, but after considering, he reminded them, "No mischief, that family doesn't like Wizards, we can't cause trouble for Harry."
"I think he's as bad as he can get already," Fred muttered quietly.
They had picked up Harry before and were very aware of his circumstances.
But Mr. Weasley didn't hear this; he was busy tossing Floo Powder into the fireplace.
Before this, he had applied to the Floo Network Administration in the name of picking someone up, seeking temporary connection for the Dursleys' fireplace to the Floo Network.
Although the Ministry of Magic prohibited Muggle fireplaces from being connected to the Floo Network, Mr. Weasley had many friends, including those in the Floo Network Administration.
The application was quickly approved, but the duration was very short, only ten minutes.
Clearly knowing to use stamps when sending letters, and using Floo Powder to pick up someone... Kael didn't know what to say.
If he had to choose between the two, he felt the Dursleys would be better able to accept an owl delivering a letter rather than someone suddenly appearing from the fireplace.
However, he did not stop them, since the agreed time was five o'clock, and there were less than ten minutes left.
This amount of time was not enough to get there, and if they didn't use Floo Powder, they'd have to use Disillusionment, which would be even more nerve-racking for the Dursleys.
"Hurry up, we only have ten minutes!"
Once the flames in the fireplace turned green, Mr. Weasley was the first to step in, shouting out Harry's address.
"Surrey, 4 Privet Drive!"
The green flames in the fireplace abruptly surged up, and Mr. Weasley vanished.
Soon after, Fred and George also stepped into the fireplace one after the other.
Ron wished to go as well, but Mrs. Weasley pulled him back.
"Don't have too many people go, that family doesn't like Wizards."
Upon hearing this, Hermione, who was eager to experience Floo Powder, immediately stopped.
Five minutes later, Fred returned first.
He walked out of the fireplace and excitedly came to Kael, whispering, "I threw a bag of candies as I left, deliberately leaving one behind..."
Just then, George and Harry arrived.
"Did he eat it?" Fred asked excitedly, reaching out to help Harry up.
"He did," Harry said as he stood. "What is that...?"
"Balloon Candy," Fred said gleefully, "You gave us the inspiration, and all summer we've wanted someone to try it..."
A burst of laughter erupted in the small kitchen.
Harry also breathed a sigh of relief; honestly, when he saw Dudley uncontrollably float to the ceiling, he thought he had blown him up again, just like Aunt Marge last year.
Then Harry looked around and greeted everyone.
Charlie and Bill were equally curious about him.
The Boy Who Lived; they had only heard of him before, and this was their first meeting.
Soon the fire in the fireplace went out.
"Mr. Weasley hasn't come out yet!" Hermione said nervously.
"Don't worry," Ron waved his hand, "Dad has ways..."
Ron hadn't finished speaking when they heard a slight popping sound. Mr. Weasley suddenly appeared beside George, and he was upset.
"This isn't funny, Fred!" he shouted, "What did you give that Muggle boy to eat?"
"I didn't give him anything," Fred said with a mischievous grin, "I simply accidentally dropped some on the ground, and he picked it up himself... You can't blame me.
If he had thought to return the candy to me, nothing would've happened, right?"
"You dropped it on purpose!" Mr. Weasley knew his son too well, "You know he's on a diet... Of course, he ate it!"
"Did he really fly?" George asked eagerly.
"Straight up to the ceiling!"
Harry and the Weasley Brothers laughed aloud once again.
"This isn't funny!" Mr. Weasley said discontentedly, "Such behavior severely damages the relationship between Wizards and Muggles; you shouldn't..."
"This has nothing to do with whether he's a Muggle!" Fred said angrily.
"He's always bullying Harry," George said, "And that family doesn't give him food!"
"Exactly!" Harry said seriously.
In an attempt to make the dieting Dudley feel better, he was given only a measly slice of grapefruit at each meal. Aunt Petunia seemed to think the best way to keep Dudley cheered was to ensure he got more to eat than Harry.
But even so, Harry's tiny portion often ended up being snatched by Dudley. If it weren't for Ron and Hermione sending him food frequently, he wouldn't know how he'd make it through the past month or more.
"The point isn't that, your actions were wrong in themselves." Mr. Weasley remained a little angry, "And they would take it out on Harry, you're giving him trouble."
"It's okay, Mr. Weasley," Harry shrugged, indicating it didn't need attention.
Regardless of this incident, his uncle and aunt would never like him, especially after last year when he blew up Aunt Marge, making it indifferent...