At eleven in the evening, Hermione finally returned after a busy day.
As soon as she entered the door, she rushed straight to the dinner table with the midnight snack, completely disregarding manners and image, grabbing a baked potato and stuffing it into her mouth.
"Eat slower, there's plenty here," Mrs. Weasley quickly pushed a whole basket of baked potatoes towards Hermione and placed the pie she had prepared for Mr. Weasley in front of her.
"Arthur, what's going on, does the Ministry of Magic not let people eat?" Mrs. Weasley asked angrily.
Hermione looked as if she hadn't eaten in three days.
"Of course the Ministry of Magic lets people eat, she's just not used to it yet," Mr. Weasley calmly took another piece of pie and cut it into small pieces before putting it into his mouth.
Even though his pace wasn't slow, compared to Hermione, he appeared much more elegant.
"So what exactly has she been doing?"
"Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee, one of the most complicated positions at the Ministry of Magic," Mr. Weasley explained, "She's been out all day, only returned ten minutes ago."
"Then doesn't Muggles have places that sell food?" Mrs. Weasley still didn't understand.
"Yes, they do."
At this point, Hermione finally shifted her attention from the baked potatoes and pie, she took a big gulp of pumpkin juice, "Mr. Pelode bought me fish and chips, but I was too busy registering information and scheduling the plumber for Mrs. Figg, I forgot where I put them."
"Once I arranged everything, it was already half-past ten."
Strangely enough, while working, Hermione didn't feel hungry at all, it wasn't until she completed all her tasks that she realized she hadn't eaten for over ten hours.
The sudden hunger almost made her faint on her way back to the Ministry of Magic.
"Plumber... what's that?" Ron asked curiously as he came down from upstairs, "Is it someone who takes care of swimming pools?"
"No, it's someone who repairs pipes," Mr. Weasley said before Hermione could answer, "I never knew they needed appointments, how do they do it, send a letter or telegram, do you need stamps."
"It should be by phone," Harry whispered from the side, "telegrams are old-fashioned."
"Yes, that's it," Mr. Weasley nodded, "the phone, I even bought one, it's in the attic of the Shabby Residence, but I didn't bring it here."
"Honestly, I always thought the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee is interesting. If salary weren't an issue, I'd still consider this job, although I wonder if I could do it."
To his doubts, Harry felt it was likely... not possible.
Mr. Weasley is extremely interested in Muggle things, even to the point of fanaticism, but his basic understanding is really poor, with many things he doesn't even know the name, remembering only a rough nickname.
If he were to mediate conflicts between wizards and Muggles, he'd likely do more harm than good, the Muggles might even call the police.
And another key point is, for Mr. Weasley, raising seven children means the salary issue cannot be ignored.
"Calling doesn't need stamps, those are for letters," Hermione patiently answered Mr. Weasley's questions.
Mr. Weasley also seized the chance to ask more about Muggles, like how lawnmowers work, and what gasoline is.
He only stopped abruptly when he noticed Mrs. Weasley's increasingly dangerous look, "Don't misunderstand Molly, I'm just concerned about Hermione, you know, it's her first day at work, she's bound to have lots of things she's not used to, I just want to help, it's definitely not personal interest."
"That better be it," Mrs. Weasley glared at him and promptly asked, "But what's going on, how did Hermione suddenly start working at the Ministry of Magic."
"Honestly, I don't know," Mr. Weasley shrugged, "Chris only said they were taken there by Kael to help out."
"How Kael got involved," Mrs. Weasley grew more perplexed, "he's been home all day."
"Not necessarily, mom," Ron said, "Remember? When I went to get Kael for lunch, there was no movement in his room all day, including dinner, he was over an hour late."
"So what," Fred said nonchalantly, "When we're researching new products, we also lock ourselves in our rooms all day, it's not that strange."
"True, but..."
"Yes, I did go to the Ministry of Magic once," at this moment, Kael came down the stairs hearing the commotion, he glanced at the time.
"It's so late, are none of you planning to sleep?"
"Can't sleep," Harry said, "These days besides sleeping there's nothing else to do, but Kael, did you say you really went to the Ministry of Magic?"
"Yeah, had some things to do," Kael nodded, he looked at Mrs. Weasley, "Sorry, I know I couldn't get through the front door, so I had to find another way."
"You shouldn't have hidden it from me," Mrs. Weasley was somewhat unhappy, "What if you were discovered by the Death Eaters on the road."
"That wouldn't happen," Kael said, "Actually, I never left the house."
"Never left the house?" Ron asked confusedly, "Then how did you go to the Ministry of Magic, Floo Network?"
"Impossible, the fireplace here isn't connected to the Floo Network," Hermione grabbed another piece of pie, "not to mention Portkey and Apparition are both forbidden."