Chapter 9.
With a smile on his face, Alan walked inside the kitchen/living room, which was a very small area, as when all of them walked in, it suddenly began to look quite crowded.
"Alan, you're here; come sit." Arthur, who was sitting on the chair, flipping through the Daily Prophet, raised his head, looking at the sudden crowd entering the kitchen; however, noticing Alan in the crowd, a sudden smile formed on his face as he asked him to come sit next to him.
Alan, hearing Arthur, nodded his head and sat down next to him, following that other to sit down, making the kitchen area look a little less crowded.
"Feels a little crowded, right?" Arthur said, his face a little red with embarrassment, he had always been conscious about the condition of his house whenever a guest visited. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley, who seemed to be busy cooking dinner and not paying any attention to this conversation, had her ears turn a little red.
Alan could only sigh, seeing Arthur feeling embarrassed about something like this, but then said, "No, to tell you the truth, I prefer this setting to having more space; moreover, isn't it nice to have more people than being alone?" The feeling of being alone, Alan really didn't like it if he had to tell the truth.
"By the way, Harry, what are you doing here?" Alan looked at Harry and then the scar on his forehead before asking; though being an earthling, he already knew the answer, but it wasn't like he could share them with others, so pretending while trying to start a conversation was quite a good choice.
"Professor, do you know me?" Harry, hearing his name, felt a little surprised but then realized that he was quite famous here, and moreover, this wasn't Dursley's house.
"Professor, he was caught in a trick." Ron couldn't help but intervene, "It's all done by that Malfoy..."
"Ron!!" Arthur suddenly spoke, making Ron, who seemed to have many more things to say about this Malfoy fellow, shut up suddenly.
Alan, who knew the ins and outs of this, now looked at Arthur and said, "Is it something serious?" Showing a little concern.
Arthur looked at his son with a sharp glance but then sighed while turning his gaze toward Harry and said, "No, it's not that serious. Actually, Harry was paid a visit by a house elf named Dobby at his aunt and uncle's house, and that house elf used magic there, causing Harry to receive a warning letter from the Ministry of Magic."
"Oh, so it's like that." Alan said, feigning understanding, though at the same time, he had discussed a similar issue with his boss, Amelia, like a year ago, about how sending letters like this and detecting the use of magic in muggle areas before doing any research was just wasting time and idiocy because there was no actual way to tell who had cast the magic while sitting in the Ministry of Magic.
"And that house elf belongs to the Malfoy family; that house elf came to Harry to ask him to not go to Hogwarts. That little Malfoy must be up to something." Fred said, looking a little excited.
"And because of the letter he received from the Ministry of Magic, he was locked up by his aunt and uncle." Ron said, looking at Harry as if he were looking at some pitiful creature.
"That's right, so how could we let Harry be caught in a cage like that?" George said, then, as if he were recounting some great adventure, he raised his voice a little and said, "So, we went to rescue Harry, using Dad's car..."
"Ahem…" Hearing the mention of his car, Arthur couldn't help but cough heavily; though he knew that Alan wasn't the type of person who would spread any kind of rumors or sort, still it was better to be careful about this sort of thing.
Alan, seeing Arthur, couldn't help but smile, as he already knew all about this and Arthur's love for Muggle things. There were few others who knew about that, but that was of no concern for anyone, as the matter of the car and what Arthur had done to it was still hidden, and anyway, wasn't he still an employee of the Ministry of Magic when the car was found altered and had a proven connection with Arthur?
"I think helping a friend in need is not something one should be angry at." Alan said, looking at Arthur, and then turning to look at Ron and Harry, he said, "And since it's a house elf that came to give Harry trouble, you should be careful when you're alone, as the creature will try to approach you when you're alone." Alan, recalling what was going to happen going forward, couldn't help but warn them with a smile on his face; though with the current attitude of Duo, Alan knew that it was best to let things take their course. Moreover, Dobby, that house elf, was not harmful, or maybe he was, but just a little.
The only thing Alan at this point was interested in was the diary of Voldemort, the horcrux; since he considered the Weasley family someone as close as his own relatives, he felt that there were certain things he'd need to do this year, but at the same time, not too much to change the course of the world itself.
"See, even Professor Alan understands us." It was Fred who spoke up but in a hushed tone, his eyes focusing on somewhere deep in the kitchen, "That Malfoy must be trying to do some nasty trick on Harry."
"Professor Alan, that Malfoy boy is in the same grade as Ron and Harry, but he's in Slytherin House." George followed with little explanation, feeling Alan might miss out on details.
Alan, on the other hand, just nodded his head, as the misunderstanding was too much here, and then looked at Ginny, who was shyly peeking glances at Harry. "So, Ginny too will attend Hogwarts this year, right?"