How It All Goes Down
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
- When Harry arrives at the Burrow, Fred and George (the twins) quickly ask him if Dudley ate "it"? "It" is a "Ton-Tongue Toffee" (5.4) – a sweet that makes your tongue grow huge.
- When Mr. Weasley comes through the fireplace, he's pretty furious with the twins.
- He points out: "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations!" (5.15).
- Mrs. Weasley steps in too, and things get tense in the Weasley living room.
- Luckily for Harry, Hermione and Ron's little sister Ginny come in the room.
- Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny all go up to Ron's room while the twins argue with their irate mother downstairs.
- Ron and Ginny tell Harry about the twins' new business: they're making magical practical jokes ("Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes") that they plan to sell once they get to school.
- But Mrs. Weasley is annoyed that the twins want to open a joke shop rather than work for the Ministry of Magic like Mr. Weasley.
- Percy Weasley, Ron's older brother and recent Hogwarts graduate, is working for the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
- Percy's a jerk – totally full of himself.
- Harry also gets to meet Ron's tiny owl, Pig (full name Pigwidgeon – can't say we thought of that one) formally.
- They all go down to dinner.
- Mrs. Weasley is slamming dishes and pots around and generally seems annoyed.
- She's worried that Fred and George are going to get in trouble with their tricks.
- (There's a Ministry office called the Improper Use of Magic Office, and it deals with cases of wizards who have done magic in front of Muggles, something that is strictly forbidden by wizard law.)
- Meanwhile, Percy Weasley is going on about his boss at work, Mr. Crouch, whom he admires.
- Percy mentions a missing witch, Bertha Jorkins, who never came back from her holiday in Albania a month before.
- Apparently, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman, hasn't looked into the case yet.
- Around the dinner table, everyone is talking about the Quidditch World Cup. The final match is going to be between Ireland and Bulgaria.
- (Harry is a member of the Quidditch team for his house, Gryffindor, at Hogwarts.)
- After dinner, Ron quietly asks Harry if he's heard from Sirius.
- Harry mentions sending Sirius a letter, but he's feeling too content at the moment to talk about his painful scar.
- Mrs. Weasley sends them all off to bed – they have to get up early.