Chapter 8.
The Burrow, located on the outskirts of the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, Alan has been invited here before too, so apparating here didn't seem too much trouble.
Years ago, the place seemed to be a large pigsty built with stones; however, as time passed by and new family members began to arrive one by one, several rooms were added here and there, making the burrow seem like a unique pigsty that was several stories high, hanging around instead of falling to bits with the help of magic.
Alan has many times asked Mrs. Weasley whether she wanted his help with the house remodeling and stuff, but the answer was always a warm smile.
Boom…
Suddenly a heavy, bullet-like sound echoed in the vicinity, and next appeared Alan, followed by several exclamations.
"Ahh!!"
"Careful!!"
Alan, seeing the large open field appear in front of him and then hearing those exclamation words, instinctively took out his wand and cast a shield charm on himself without any delay.
And, just a few moments later, he saw an ugly-looking gnome come crashing down on the shield cast by him, making an ugly face as it crashed on the shield; however, the next second he waved his wand once again, this time casting the levitation charm and throwing away the ugly-looking gnome while it floated in the air in a daze.
"Wow!"
"Marvelous!!"
The similar voice from earlier came once again, this time sounding a little amazed, and then Alan saw four young boys appearing in front of him; three were redheads, obviously Weasleys, and the last one was a relatively thin boy with messy black hair, a pair of green eyes, and a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.
Alan didn't have to put too much pressure on his mind to guess who this fellow was.
"Alan, your response and spell-casting just now were wonderful! If I were a professor, I would've given Hufflepuff ten points!" Said one of the twins with a wide smile on his face, obviously trying to tease Alan.
"George!?" Alan said hesitatingly that he was familiar with the Weasley family; however, identifying these two guys was still proving to be a little hard for him, and the same was the case for Mrs. Weasley as well.
"No, I'm Fred," retorted the redhead who had spoken first.
"No, you're not." The other twin said, looking ready to continue with their little ploy, However, since Alan wasn't interested in playing this childish game, he said, "Whatever, but next time if you throw something at me, you should be ready to see my marvelous spell-casting working against you." Though there was a smile on his face, the twins could tell that they would be met with a response next time if they tried to do the same thing next time.
"Good afternoon, professor." The last two of the group greeted Alan, looking a little nervous; after all, they knew through Arthur that the person coming to their house for dinner was going to be their combat professor from this year going forward.
"Fred! George!"
Before Alan could greet Ron and Harry back, suddenly a lion-like roar came crashing down on the five of them. As soon as Alan heard the voice, he saw a change of expression in the twins' and Ron's faces, turning almost pale.
"Oh," Fred mumbled.
"Should we run?" George added, but before the two of them could act accordingly, Mrs. Weasley had already arrived in front of them. Putting her hands on her hips, she began to give her sons a sharp look, making them flinch almost instinctively.
"Alan, dear, you are here." She turned to look at Alan and suddenly said with a smile.
"Yes, Mrs.. Weasley." Alan replied with a smile.
George, seeing her mom focusing on Alan, tried to walk away toward the house while saying , "Mom, let's head inside since Professor Alan has arrived." hoping that his mother will let go of the mischief.
"Yes, but before that, how dare you throw gnomes at incoming guests?!" Mrs. Weasley turned to George, her voice low and frightening.
"Mrs. Weasley, Professor Alan, I-I'm sorry, it was me who threw that goblin, but I was just trying to throw it away in the distance, and Professor Alan suddenly appeared out of nowhere." Harry saw the twins taking the blame for him and having to hear an earful; he felt guilty and couldn't help but raise his hand to clarify things.
"Ah? Harry-- there's no need for you to cover for them." Mrs. Weasley seemed at a loss for a moment seeing Harry coming out like that, but then a smile formed on her face, as she liked his attitude, and she said, "And more importantly, it's their fault for not explaining things to you properly."
"Alright, alright, it's truly our fault for not telling you the right way to throw out gnomes." Fred and George, finally seeing a way out, immediately apologized, though they didn't feel guilty at all about what had happened earlier.
"Fine, stop standing in the way, and let your professor make his way in the house." Mrs. Weasley couldn't help but sigh, "Alan, please come in; Arthur has already arrived from work and is in the room."
Alan, hearing that, looked back to wink at Ron and Harry, who still looked a little troubled, and then walked inside the house, and just as he had taken a few steps in, another red-haired person wearing a pair of glasses came toward him. "Good afternoon, Professor Alan. I hope my brother didn't give you any trouble." Percy said in a gentlemanly manner, as if he were meeting his office's boss.
"Oh, make way for Prefect Percy." Muttered whether it was Fred or George, but Percy, with his usual thick skin, ignored them, and then, looking at Alan, said, "Professor, I have many questions to ask you.
"Please, sir prefect, our dear professor has just arrived, so please don't disturb him with your question and let him rest for a bit." Fred, as if Alan's bodyguard, came in front of Alan and said, making Alan laugh a little, it seems like his day was going to get a little interesting going forward.
A/N Throw some POWERSTONES.