Chapter 76: Inquiry
Chapter 76: Inquiry
Coven looked forward to meeting Mr. Arthur Weasley and only returned home at dinner time.
Halfway through dinner, Mr. Arthur Weasley pushed the door open and entered. Before he had completely entered the room, he cheerfully called out to the dining table, "I'm back, children!"
"Good evening, Dad."
All the children of Weasley's family responded in unison, looking very well-educated.
Mr. Weasley took off his hat with a smile, took off his coat, and handed it to the madam to put on the clothes rack. Then he pulled off the dining chair and sat down.
Mr. Weasley's face was a little thin, but his stomach was a little big. After sitting down, he moved the chair a few times before finally finding a comfortable position.
As soon as he raised his head, Arthur Weasley's gaze met Coven's.
"Ah, oh! You..."
Arthur Weasley first revealed a friendly smile, but when he opened his mouth, he hesitated. The awkward appearance of forgetting Coven's name actually had no intention of concealing it at all.
"Coven Quinn, sir. Hello." Coven took the initiative to introduce himself to ease the awkwardness.
"Yes, yes! Coven Quinn! I clearly remember it very clearly this morning!" Arthur Weasley slapped his forehead and immediately smiled. "It's all my fault for not working well today. In short, welcome to our house, child."
"Thank you." Coven thanked him politely.
"Dad, what's wrong with your work today?" Percy took over the topic and asked vaguely as he stuffed food into his mouth with a fork.
The others were also very curious about this. Everyone's eyes turned to Mr. Arthur Weasley, who had just picked up his knife and fork.
Seeing this, Mr. Weasley had to answer first, "Today, a case flipping work was created in the department, causing me and my colleagues to go to the 'Azkaban' prison*."
[*TL Note: Azkaban was a fortress on an island in the middle of the North Sea. It served the magical community of Great Britain as a prison for convicted criminals. Azkaban was built in the 15th century and it had been in use as a detention facility since 1718. Using certain Charms, Azkaban was hidden from the Muggle world and was Unplottable.]
"Oh my god..."
When Mrs. Weasley heard this, he immediately asked worriedly, "Are you alright? Those 'Dementors'* do not care if you are a criminal or not. I heard that they often go crazy!"
[*TL Note: A Dementor was a gliding, wraithlike Dark creature, widely considered to be one of the foulest of the dark creatures to inhabit the wizarding world. Dementors fed on human happiness and thus generated feelings of depression and despair in any person in close proximity to them. Dementors were closely associated with Azkaban, as they were formerly employed by the British Ministry of Magic as the prison guards, and were not known to permanently inhabit any other location.]
"Ah, yes." Mr. Weasley nodded gloomily. "Maybe my colleagues and I were too optimistic at that time, so it did attract the attention of those 'Dementors', causing them to riot a little."
George became spirited. "Dad, have you defeated them?"
Fred added, "Can you bring one back for us to see?"
"Shut up, Fred! George!"
Mrs. Weasley sternly stopped the twins from being careless. Then she turned to look at her husband worriedly, looking back and forth at her husband, afraid that her husband would be hurt.
"Mom!" As Fred chewed on the food, he continued to laugh and say, "Dad is already home safely."
George continued, "Obviously, he is not injured. Mom, you are making a fuss."
"Eat your food!" Mrs. Weasley turned her head again and reprimanded them in a bad mood.
Seeing the twins' expressions as if they wanted to continue joking around, their brother, Charlie Weasley, could not help but say, "Alright, alright. Don't be angry with mom. Hurry up and eat."
The twins shrugged and calmed down.
Mr. Weasley smiled and patted his wife to indicate that she was fine. Then, he picked up his knife and fork and started eating.
Coven, who had been a quiet audience, also found information about the 'Dementors' in his mind and secretly recorded it on his schedule. He planned to go back to school and see more detailed information...
....
After dinner, Mrs. Weasley cleaned up the tableware. Other than the twins, the other children went upstairs to their rooms.
At the dining table, Mr. Weasley took a sip of tea and said to Coven, "Then, child, if I remember correctly, you want to ask me some alchemy questions?"
"Yes, sir."
"..."
Coven did not have the habit of drinking tea after a meal, so he did not touch the teacup in front of him. He said with some expectation, "I heard from George and Fred that you know a lot about alchemy, so I want to learn from you."
"Ah, of course. Of course, there is no problem." Mr. Weasley did not mean to refuse, and asked, "How much do you know about alchemy now?"
Coven answered truthfully, "It is only limited to the introduction in ordinary books. It will also give some small things simple enchantment, but I do not understand the principle of enchantment at all."
"Oh? Is that so?" Mr. Weasley raised his hand to rub his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "Well, in these two weeks of vacation, as long as I have time, you can come and ask me. In addition, I will find you a book of 'Alchemy Intermediate' as a reference."
"Thank you very much, sir!" Coven was overjoyed.
The matter was settled so simply.
For the next two weeks of vacation, Coven became very busy again.
As he read the 'Alchemy Intermediate' that Mr. Weasley lent him, he also taught George and Fred the knowledge at the same time.
During the day, he used his free time to do alchemy experiments with the twins. At night, he would ask Mr. Weasley about all the problems he encountered.
Just like that, the two full weeks of holiday life passed by silently.
When the start of the semester came, Coven did not feel tired after coming back to his senses. Instead, he felt that it would be better if the holiday could be longer.
After all, although he had a little understanding of the essence of alchemy in the past two weeks, it was still just some superficial knowledge.
The more Coven understood about alchemy, the more he felt that it had become more profound, making people unable to see the limits of this knowledge.
...
The second week after the start of school, Friday night.
Coven was writing homework in the auditorium with some of his classmates. The sound of footsteps approached. Penelope came with a slight fragrance and sat next to him.
Coven stopped the pen in his hand and turned to give Penelope a questioning look.
Penelope looked a little conflicted. She looked left and right at the students not far away, then bent down and whispered into Coven's ear.
"Coven, I have something to ask you."
"Say it." Coven was puzzled and also responded in a low voice, "If you have something to ask, just ask. Why are you still reserved?"
Penelope was still in a dilemma. She unconsciously twisted her sleeves a few times, and then took a deep breath and leaned closer.
"Do you know Percy Weasley from your Gryffindor?"
"Of course." Coven nodded slightly. "I spent my Christmas holidays at their house. What's wrong?"
"What... what kind of person is he?"
"What kind of person?"
Coven was a little confused, not understanding why Penelope suddenly came to him to ask this.
But when he saw Penelope's gradually reddening earlobe, an idea suddenly came to Coven's mind, and then he said in his heart, 'No way..'