章 182: Percy's Letter

At half-past eleven, the Gryffindor common room was nearly empty. Chris, Ginny and Colin were soothing a very upset Hermione, while Harry and Ron hurriedly scribbling and finishing their homeworks.

"I told you, didn't I?" Ron said. "Don't do that. But as always you were being stubborn. Now look, all the house-elves are angry on Gryffindor house."

"Hermione, don't be upset over it," Chris said. "You know more than anyone else that how the house-elves think."

"I was just so happy that I didn't believe..." Hermione trailed off. She wasn't crying but she was looking very upset. She heavily sighed, again and pulled Harry's essay towards her. "Give me, I'll check it."

"Thanks a million, Hermione," said Harry weakly, passing over his essay and sinking back into his armchair.

"What about me?" Ron asked hopefully and gained a glare from Hermione.

At that moment, Chris saw a handsome screech owl was standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room at Ron.

"Isn't that Hermes?" She said and everyone turned to look at the window.

"Blimey, it is!" said Ron quietly, throwing down his quill and getting to his feet. "What's Percy writing to me for?"

He crossed to the window and opened it; Hermes flew inside, landed upon Ron's essay, and held out a leg to which a letter was attached. Ron took it off and the owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across Ron's drawing of a moon.

"That's definitely Percy's handwriting," said Ron, sinking back into his chair and staring at the words on the outside of the scroll: To Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor House, Hogwarts.

"Ron, are you in touch with Percy?" Ginny said so coldly that Ron looked scared.

" 'Course not," Ron said quickly. "Ask Harry or Hermione. I never wrote to him after he left. I swear."

"Then why is he writing to you this late?" Ginny said suspiciously.

Ron gulped and looked at Harry for help.

"Seriously Ginny, Ron never wrote Percy, as much as I know," Harry said.

"Open it then, I want to see the letter," Ginny ordered.

Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. Ginny bent over his shoulder and joined him. The farther down the parchment their eyes travelled, the more pronounced became their scowl. When they both had finished reading, Ron looked disgusted and Ginny was practically fuming.

"How dare he?" Ginny muttered.

Ron thrust the letter to Harry's hand.

"Read this," he said to Harry, Chris, Hermione and Colin.

Dear Ron,

I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.

I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the "Fred and George" route(I still believe our sister is going to take it), rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.

But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully, you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions.

From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this — no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favourite — but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different — and probably more accurate — view of Potter's behaviour. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing — and see if you can spot yours truly!

I have tried to reach Ginny too. Before I left I tried to advise her about her so-called "friendship" with that girl Christina Norton but unfortunately Ginny decide to slam the door on her brother's face rather than taking his useful advice.

I hope you can help her, Ron. Christina Norton is a dangerous girl. I think you and Ginny should change your company as soon as possible. It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter — I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent — but if you have any worries about this or have spotted anything else in Potter's behaviour that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a really delightful woman, who I know will be only too happy to advise you.

This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry.

I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore (if you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders). I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people — the Minister really could not be more gracious to me — and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realize how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.

Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter and Christina Norton, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.

Your brother,

Percy.

Chris looked up at Ron and Ginny.

"Did you really slammed the door on his face?" Chris asked.

"I did," Ginny replied.

"Give it back," said Ron, holding out his hand. "He is —" Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half, "the world's"— he tore it into quarters —"biggest"— he tore it into eighths —"git." He threw the pieces into the fire.

"Come on, we've got to get this finished sometime before dawn," he said briskly to Harry, pulling the essay back toward him.

"Give it to me, I'll look through it," Hermione said to Ron.

"Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you're a lifesaver," said Ron happily.

Chris, Colin and Harry laughed.

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To be continued...