In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 318: The Burrow No. 3

Green flames wrapped around Jon and by the time he felt his feet dangling in the air, he was back in contact with the ground the next second.

Before he could take in the sight before him, a somewhat boisterous voice reached his ears.

"Hurry up Charlie! Put that stuff down in the kitchen first, the guests are arriving!"

"Put everything down here! Fred! Don't open your boxes, I don't want to get mad at the sight of all those odd things!"

"Wipe your hands, Molly, it's still got mashed potatoes on it."

"Oh, sorry, I got a little too excited."

"Hey, why do I feel like Mum is expecting her real son and daughter."

The green flames around him dissipated and Jon finally saw the full extent of the space he was in.

It was a fairly large living room, but the surrounding furnishings all looked a little old.

A wooden floor full of nicks and marks, a chest of drawers piled high with all sorts of stitches, fabrics and prints, a broken chandelier suspended at the ceiling by a piece of twine, a long table dragged into the middle of the living room and covered with a discoloured floral tablecloth.

The first impression of this place is clearly one of poverty, but it is also full of that air of compact domestic life.

Standing directly in front of Jon was a middle-aged couple.

The man had very thin red hair with a bald patch on top, stood tall and thin, wore glasses and was dressed in a dark brown robe.

The woman, also with red hair, was not very tall but chubby, wearing an apron with a little mashed potato on it as she had a warm and welcoming smile on her face.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Weasley."

Jon greeted them politely.

Instead of responding first, Ron's mum, Molly, pulled Jon over and yanked him out of the fireplace, followed by Hermione who popped up with Gabrielle where Jon had just been standing, to prevent any risk of the two bumping into each other.

"Oh good boy, hello, Ron told me when he came back for Christmas in his first year that he had made a friend like you, I had him invite you to our house that summer, only to hear later that Dumbledore had assigned you a special task."

She showed great enthusiasm, both for Jon, and even later for Hermione as well as Gabrielle.

"And you, Hermione, remember me, we met on the Hogwarts wagon last September when you were holding a copy of 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4' and pointed us in the right direction. Gabrielle, I know you just as well, Ginny has been telling me a lot about you when she was at home on holiday, and she's been mentioning how she wants to invite you to come and visit."

Hermione and Gabrielle both had somewhat fond looks on their faces.

They were grabbed by Molly's hand and made their way to the sofa to sit down, while Ron's dad Arthur helped Jon with his suitcase.

"This isn't the first time we've met, Jon." He smiled at Jon and winked, "It was during last year around this time too, when I was in the crowd when Dumbledore handed over the entire Hogwarts student body to you."

Jon patted some of the ashes from the fireplace that had stained his robes.

"I do remember you too, Mr Weasley, you were right behind Professor Lupin."

"Ha, yes, to be honest, there was some disapproval in me at the time when I saw Dumbledore place such a burden on you; after all, no matter how talented you might be, you were still only thirteen years old. With such a responsibility on you, I thought there was a chance you might not be able to handle it, but the facts were enough to prove that I was overthinking all of this."

"It's just that I've had slightly better luck."

"Just luck isn't enough for the things you've done."

Arthur patted him on the shoulder while introducing him to the last person Jon hadn't yet met in the Weasley household.

"This is my second son, Charlie, who also works in the Order of the Phoenix now."

Charlie had the broad face of a Mr Nice Guy, his face was covered in freckles and his complexion was a little on the bronze side, his arms were obviously bulging with muscle, and it was clear at a glance that he is very physically strong.

When he saw Jon, a smile appeared on his face as well, while he extended his own hand.

"Hello, Jon."

Jon held out his hand and shook it with him as well.

"Nice to meet you."

Together with Bill, who came out of the fireplace at the end, the entire Weasley family was here.

Hmm. It was the Weasleys after Percy had gone rogue, it was obvious that no one in the Weasley family had any intention of mentioning anything about Percy, the third son of their family had turned his back completely on Dumbledore's side, and Voldemort had used him for many things, including slanders against Jon and fabricating false accusations on Dumbledore's character, and from the public statements, he seemed to be very cooperative, not at all like he was being forced to do so.

Even in school, if anyone had seen the news about Percy in the newspaper, they had avoided Ron and the others to prevent it from affecting their mood.

Jon and the others had obviously arrived a little early, dinner was not yet ready, and hearing the commotion in front of the fireplace, Molly had rushed out of the kitchen to greet them, not even having had time to take off her apron.

Calling out to George and the others to entertain Jon and Hermione, Molly hurried back to the kitchen, while Arthur and Charlie, both of whom clearly had things to do, were tidying up the living room to make room for dinner later.

As soon as they got home, Ginny excitedly grabbed Gabrielle and went to her room, as if she was anxious to show her something, and the Weasley twins said hello to Jon and Hermione, and mysteriously went to their room, carrying their suitcases, which they had been tinkering with since they had returned from Durmstrang as if they had got some kind of inspiration from the school renowned for its dark magic.

Ron, on the other hand, showed Jon and Hermione around this makeshift home of Weasleys in France.

"It's actually a complete replica of our old family home in Britain because Mum said it's what makes everyone more familiar and comfortable. But as you know, our family wasn't very well off before, and both moves were quite an expense, but Professor Dumbledore paid Mum and Dad, Bill and Charlie, and the others a good salary every year, although Dad never wanted to accept the money, he felt that being at the Order of the Phoenix was a favour to Dumbledore, not a job. But Dumbledore managed to convince him into accepting the payoff."

Ron took them out first and wandered around the plots outside.

It was a wasteland next to a Muggle town not far from Lyons, basically devoid of people, the surrounding area had obviously only just been reclaimed, with flowers planted next to the fence and a vegetable patch at the back of the house.

Hermione stared at the small three-storey building that the Weasleys had named the Burrow Number Three and asked in confusion.

"Why was this house built crooked?"

Ron shrugged.

"As I told you, it's been built exactly replicating the old Burrow we first lived in. To be honest, a dwelling like this would probably have been a badge of shame among the English wizards back then because our family really wasn't exactly rich even in peacetime, and although Dad worked for the Ministry of Magic, he didn't get more than a handful of galleons a month at all, not to mention the fact that he had to support so many of us as a family. I was young at the time, but I can remember it quite well."

He said this without the slightest hint of evasion like he didn't even mind telling Jon and the others about his family's hardships as a talking point.

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