Ron Weasley did not have a happy summer vacation.
Not long ago, he had a disagreement with Percy because he asked Percy to borrow an owl.
Ever since the last phone call, Ron has completely lost contact with Harry.
Hermione said in the letter that Harry's uncle might hate wizards, so he forbade Harry to contact his friends in the wizarding world, and suggested that Hagrid visit Harry on their behalf.
Ron also thought Hermione's suggestion was good, so he wrote a letter to Hagrid, but his owl Errol was very old, and he really couldn't bear to let it fly too far to deliver the letter.
Ever since Percy became a prefect, his family bought him an owl, so Ron wanted to borrow the owl from him.
However, Ron was very annoyed that Percy kept finding some poor excuses to reject him again and again.
"Percy still doesn't want to lend the owl." Fred, who was playing wizard cards with Ginny, looked up at Ron who was coming down the stairs in a rage, and asked.
"Hermes has gone out to deliver a letter," Percy explained casually.
"Don't tell me you have endless letters to send every day." Ron was checking Errol's condition. After hearing Percy's words, he turned around and glared at him. "Please think of a good excuse for lying."
In the end, Ron was reluctant to let the elderly Errol go out to help him deliver the letter to Hagrid. Crossing most of Britain was a severe test for an elderly owl.
"I did." Percy blushed and glared at Ron. "As for who I sent the letter to, it's none of your business."
Ginny glanced at Percy secretly. She knew who Percy was writing to during the summer vacation.
"Hasn't there been any news from Harry yet?" George took a sip of his drink, picked up the Daily Prophet on the counter, and sat down next to Fred.
"No."
Ron thought it was the trouble caused by the last time he called Harry.
At that time, the person who answered the phone should be Harry's uncle, and the man's tone was very bad, or extremely bad.
"Hermione thought Harry might be trapped at home. His uncle who adopted him hated wizards, so Hermione suggested that Hagrid help us visit Harry."
Ron didn't know that Hagrid had actually written several letters to Harry and never received a reply. He suspected that Harry was in trouble.
However, Dumbledore had reminded him before that if it was not an urgent matter, he should not disturb Harry's life, so Hagrid had no intention of going to Harry directly.
Of course, if Hagrid knew about Harry's situation, he would probably go visit the Dursleys himself.
"When I have money, I will definitely buy myself an owl." Ron stuffed the letter back into his pocket and muttered quietly.
"Rich? You have no hope." Fred said jokingly, "When we have money in the future, you can come and work for us!"
"Do you have money?" Ron pouted in dissatisfaction.
Of course he knew what Fred and George were up to, but he just didn't understand where these two guys got their confidence from. Given their family's situation, there was no way they could provide them with any help.
"This is not your concern." George took a sip of his drink and opened today's Daily Prophet. He sprayed the drink out right after he drank it, splashing it all over the face of Percy who was sitting across the table.
"What the hell are you doing!" Percy growled.
"Look at today's headlines!" George ignored the furious Percy, spread the Daily Prophet on the table, and excitedly greeted others.
"What's wrong?"
Fred was the first to lean over, and then his eyes widened in surprise, "It's really Albert. That guy actually went to France and got himself the International Wizard Chess Championship."
The Weasley children were gathered around the table looking at the black and white photos on the headlines.
It was a picture of Albert holding the International Wizards’ Chess trophy.
Ron looked at the words under the black and white photo and read them out softly: "Albert Anderson from the UK defeated all opponents and became the youngest champion of the International Wizard Chess Tournament in history."
Looking at the glorious young man in the photo, Ron just felt sour in his heart.
The other party was only a few years older than him, yet he had already won the honor of being the International Wizard Chess Champion.
What about yourself
In fact, if possible, Ron also wanted to participate in the International Wizarding Chess Competition and gain the same honor as Anderson.
Unfortunately, all this was just thought in his mind. He couldn't even go to France, let alone participate in the International Wizard Chess Competition.
"I remember that guy wrote to us last time and said that he was going to America with someone else and asked us not to send him any more letters!" Fred muttered, "Actually, he wrote the wrong place!"
"Kids, what are you doing?" Mr. Weasley, who had just got off work, walked in from outside and asked the children gathered at the table.
"We were watching the news about Albert winning the International Wizard Chess Championship." Percy was still wiping his cheek with a handkerchief. "I never knew he was so good at wizard chess."
"You just don't know it," Fred said sarcastically.
"Reporters from the Daily Prophet are looking for him now, hoping to interview him." Mr. Weasley knew a little bit about the inside story. "No one knows where he is now."
"He seemed to be saying he was going to America."
"Dad, how come Albert went to France and won the International Wizard Chess Championship?" Ron was very curious about this. He knew that Albert was a Muggle wizard and had more trouble than them in some things.
"It seems someone took him to France." Mr. Weasley didn't really know much. "It is said that Mr. Bud Brod, one of the former International Wizard Chess Champions, recommended him to participate in the competition."
"Is that Mr. Broad?" Fred and George looked at each other. "I remember that Albert had a good relationship with him. When he was in the first grade, Albert often went to Mr. Broad's place for afternoon tea."
"What's wrong, Percy?" Ginny asked confusedly, noticing the change in Percy's face.
"Look here." Percy motioned for everyone to look at the fourth page.
"Albert is a Muggle wizard, and there are always people who can't stand his success."
Mr. Weasley's tone was filled with disgust: "They think he used magic, because it is impossible for an underage Muggle wizard to go to France to participate in the International Wizarding Chess Tournament by himself."
At this moment, everyone's faces looked unhappy, and there was no doubt that they were full of malicious accusations.
"Of course, the matter was quickly suppressed," Mr. Weasley comforted, "Fudge would certainly not allow such an article to appear. Britain finally won the championship. Isn't this a slap in the face?"
"Mr. Bud Brod revealed in an interview that he asked an old friend to send Albert to France to compete..." Mr. Weasley pointed to an interview in the Daily Prophet and said, "Many people are dissatisfied with such voices."
"Albert knows a lot of famous wizards." Fred suddenly said, "He often keeps in touch with those famous wizards through letters. It's normal for someone to protect him."
"No, it's very abnormal. In fact, just now, the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department received a large number of reports that a group of people headed by Malfoy hid a large number of dark magic items in their homes." Mr. Weasley's tone was a little excited, "The higher-ups even issued a search warrant, allowing me to take people to their homes for surprise inspections."
…
…
In the McDougal kitchen, Katrina hurried in with the Daily Prophet.
"What's wrong?" Mrs. McDougal looked at her daughter puzzledly.
"Have you seen the headline in today's Daily Prophet?" Katrina asked.
"Sit down and talk if you have something to say." Isobel took off her apron, placed a cup of milk tea in front of Katrina, picked up the Daily Prophet, looked at the headline, and said to her mother, "Katrina probably wants to say that my boyfriend won the International Wizard Chess Championship!"
"Your boyfriend?" Mrs. McDougal was not surprised that her daughter had a boyfriend.
In fact, she had heard Isobel mention him last time. It was a boy named Albert Anderson, who was also said to be a talented genius.
"My daughter is so good at what she does." Mrs. McDougal looked at the newspaper and said to Isobel, "We can invite her to our house if we have a chance."
"Yeah." Isobel responded.
Just then, a woman's voice came from the fireplace.
"It looks like there's another emergency tonight." Mrs. McDougal glanced at the clock. "I might have to work the night shift and won't be able to come back tonight."
With that, she crawled into the fireplace and disappeared.
Isobel and Katrina looked at each other. They had seen this situation countless times.
Katrina thought back to what Isobel had just said, and her expression suddenly became a little subtle.
The two sisters sat at the table talking about what was in the newspaper, but their attention was soon attracted by a photo on page 3.
In the photo, a beautiful French girl is kissing Albert on the cheek, and there are two other beautiful girls next to her.
The Daily Prophet helped Albert fabricate a romantic history through a photo.
"Isobel, you have to be careful. That guy might be dating other girls secretly without telling you." Katrina stared at the photo for a long time before looking up and saying to her sister.
There was no way, Louise's passionate kiss when they first met was too deceptive.
"You think too much!"
Isobel was quite calm and didn't take the matter to heart at all.
"I don't think all foreign girls are so enthusiastic." Katrina pouted and said, "I just don't want you to be deceived."
"The Daily Prophet always likes to make up stories and create fake news to attract everyone's attention." Isobel pointed at the author of the article. "Rita Skeeter always likes to spread rumors and distort the facts. Don't you know that?"
Katrina couldn't understand why Isobel was so calm and didn't take it to heart at all.
"Well, don't worry. Even if they are love rivals, they have no chance of winning." Isobel said calmly, "Besides, they are not even love rivals."
Katrina certainly didn't know that Isobel could always ask Albert through the two-way mirror if she wanted to. As for how to ask without making Albert feel uncomfortable, Isobel naturally had her own way.
Moreover, Isobel actually didn't believe this was true. What kind of person is Albert? After being together for so long, how could she, a telepath, not know
On the contrary, her sister's reaction was a little beyond her expectations, and Isobel couldn't help but sigh in her heart.