Chapter 12: Making Parents Worried
The Burrow
Ronald Bilius Weasley
July 8, 1989, Saturday
"Molly, honey, this is serious," Arthur Weasley said in a low voice, leaning towards Molly Weasley.
"Yes, Arthur. We need to talk to Ron and understand what is happening to him. This isn't normal," his mother whispered to his father.
Although Ron was listening to Ginny's comments about the spell he had cast, he had one ear on his parents. And even though his mother and father spoke in hushed tones, someone listening carefully could still hear them.
"Ron," his father, Arthur Weasley, said, straightening up in his chair and looking at him. "After you've had breakfast, your mother and I need to talk to you. Okay?"
"Hmm. Sure, Dad." Ron said, nodding his head. Thus, the first phase of his plan was officially complete.
The first phase in the plan was to attract his parents' attention by revealing some of his magical abilities and making them take the matter seriously.
The second phase involved a conversation with his parents. There, Ron would try to explain the sudden changes in him as well.
Even though Ron Weasley was just a nine-year-old kid and didn't yet possess the rigid, bigoted, super jealous character of his future self, the changes in him still couldn't go unnoticed.
The reason Ron had waited this long was for an explanation that nobody had asked for yet. Or rather, his parents hadn't.
Ron didn't see the twins' constant questioning about what happened to real Ron as a genuine concern.
And before his parents had brought up the subject, Ron couldn't suddenly say to them, 'Hey, do you know what's causing the changes in me lately?' right?
He couldn't bring up the subject like that.
And he had no intention of directly talking about his sudden character change in his upcoming conversation with his parents either.
He would leave them small clues, hoping they would pursue it on their own. That would be the most convincing method.
Then, depending on his parents' reaction, he would either move on to the third stage of his plan or skip it and go straight to the fourth.
And after that, Ron could return to his normal routine. Maybe even with some perks.
"Ron, sweety, Ginny needs to have her breakfast too, so can you reverse the spell you cast?" his mother asked sweetly.
"Sure, mum," Ron said, and with a flick of his hand, the birds flying around Ginny flew back towards the table, transforming back into the original cup.
Ron knew his mother could easily reverse the spell, but she probably wanted to see if he could reverse it himself.
And from the look on his parents' faces, he knew his guess was correct.
"Aww... I wanted to keep playing with the birds," Ginny said.
"Don't worry, Ginny, I'll call them again for you later, okay? But you need to finish your breakfast now," Ron said.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Okay, Ron, thanks," Ginny said and returned to her breakfast.
Ron similarly returned to his breakfast, focusing on his plate, but he could easily sense the occasional strange and curious glances he received from the others at the table.
Well... that was understandable. After all, even for a Hogwarts graduate like Bill, casting wandless and silent spells wasn't possible at the moment.
But Ron thought that by the end of the day, everything would come to a conclusion, and his family members would finally accept the changes in him and his new abilities. At least, that's what he hoped.
After finishing his breakfast, Ron, as usual, carried his dishes to the kitchen sink and then turned to look at his mother and father at the table.
He could see they had already finished their breakfast and were waiting for him.
Seeing him finish his breakfast, his father said, "Ron, would you go to the living room and wait for us there? Your mother and I will be there shortly."
"Sure, Dad," Ron said and went into the living room and sat on one of the sofas. Meanwhile, he could hear his father from the kitchen telling his other siblings not to disturb them and that they could go to their rooms if they had finished their breakfast.
Soon after, his parents emerged from the kitchen and entered the adjacent living room.
At the flick of his father's wand, two armchairs in the room moved, coming to rest opposite the sofa where Ron was sitting. Then his parents sat down on them.
Ron wasn't particularly surprised by his father's silent magic. After all, Nonverbal Spells were a subject taught in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfiguration classes from the sixth year of Hogwarts, and students were expected to cast spells nonverbally from that point on.
But very few students dedicated the time to mastering all spells in this way; even as adults, many didn't have an extensive repertoire of Nonverbal Spells.
"Ron, your mother and I were wondering where you learned those spells you just cast," his father, Arthur Weasley, asked.
Ron tilted his head, as if he didn't quite understand the question, and said, "From the Hogwarts books."
"But darling, even at Hogwarts, students don't learn them that quickly. Besides, what you just cast is classified as wandless and nonverbal magic. Even Hogwarts graduates can't do that," his mother, Molly Weasley, said.
Meanwhile, Ron could see his siblings peeking in from behind his parents, through the wall separating the kitchen from the bedroom, listening to their conversation.
He could see Bill's face turn expressionless at his mother's words.
But Ron ignored them and continued talking to his family. "Huh? I didn't know that. But it seems easy when I do it."
"Can you tell us exactly how you do it, Ron?" his father asked.
"Sure, Dad. After reading the spells in the book, I just memorize the spell and say the incantation," he said.
"That's all? Anything else?" his father asked, unsure of what to say.
"Hmmm…" Ron brought his index finger to his chin, tilting his head slightly, his eyes looking upwards to the left as if trying to remember something. "Well... I noticed that each time I tried to do a different spell, they worked differently."
"How differently, sweetie?" his mother asked.
"When I tried to do Wingardium Leviosa, the spell acted like a swoosh, but with Lumos, it was like a pop. And with Avifors it was like a bang... no splat." Ron said.
From the beginning, he had no intention of explaining the source of his abilities in this conversation. So, he drew the Hinata Shoyo card for his family.
Some people were, so to speak, incapable of explaining things. These people generally associated their knowledge with feelings rather than words.
Therefore, when you asked such people to explain or clarify something to you, they would try to explain it using strange and seemingly meaningless words like "bang" or "whoosh."
In reality, all they were trying to do was convey their own feelings to you, but even someone speaking a foreign language could probably explain the matter more clearly. Unless, of course, you belonged to the same category as them.
Hinata Shoyo, a volleyball manga protagonist, was one such person, and Ron was trying to emulate him. His hands made large movements, as if conveying meaning along with what he was saying.
This situation confused his parents even more and seemed to worry them a little. But this was exactly what Ron wanted.
Then his father and mother asked more questions to understand the situation better, and for about an hour, Ron answered them the same way.
If they asked about something from books, Ron would recite the information from memory, saying it was written that way in the book, but if it came to his own experiences, he reverted to Hinata Shoyo mode.
After all, he was a nine-year-old child, and it was perfectly normal for him to be unable to explain himself on such profound matters. Ron's usually only meaningful answers were things like "I did it, and it happened" or "I wanted it, and it happened."
And when his parents started to look exhausted from these answers, Ron thought it was time to make his next move.
A good opportunity arose when his mother asked a question a little later. "Ron, you're sure no one else has shown you these spells before, right? Did someone give you a wand without our knowledge? Or cast a spell on you, sweetie?"
"No. But something strange happened a few days ago, I think..."
"What happened, sweetie?" Molly Weasley asked anxiously.
"When I woke up, I suddenly felt like my body was filled with magic. And then something seemed to have changed in me..."
"What kind of change, Ron?" his father, Arthur Weasley, asked.
"Hmm. Like, I don't like orange colour as much anymore? The orange posters in my room have started to become repulsive."
"Your posters? But they're Chudley Cannons posters. Your favourite Quidditch team," his mother said in a worried tone.
Meanwhile, from the kitchen, Ron could hear his brothers making sarcastic comments about the Chudley Cannons. But their parents were so worried that they didn't seem to pay much attention to them.
"Hmm... I guess you could say I don't really like them anymore. Quidditch still seems fun, but it doesn't make sense to support a team that hasn't won a game in a long time. So, I've already taken all the posters down in my room," Ron said.
"Huh? You really did that? When?" his mother asked. She knew how much Ron cared about those posters.
"Yes. They were too distracting. The day I felt my body fill with magic, I think it was Monday. I remember Dad was going back to work that day after his weekend break," Ron said.
He could see his mother and father looking at each other worriedly. Monday wasn't an ordinary day. It was also the day Ron started acting differently.
And he could see that their realization made them even more worried.
"Molly, I think we need to go to St. Mungo's," his father said.
"Yes, Arthur. I'll get the emergency money. You get the fireplace ready." His mother said and quickly started walking towards the stairs leading upstairs.
Meanwhile, his father got up and started walking towards the fireplace.
'Bingo,' thought Ron.
The third phase of his plan was for his parents to worry and take him to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Or they might not worry too much and, thinking his abilities were harmless, wouldn't do it. In that case, the third phase of the plan would be completely skipped, and he would proceed to the fourth stage.
But Ron really wanted the third phase to happen because it would provide much more clarity about his situation, making things easier for him.
There was also the possibility that his parents might take him to someone like Dumbledore instead of St. Mungo, and Ron wasn't sure how that would turn out, but it was a very low probability.
After all, Dumbledore wasn't someone who would welcome the Weasleys whenever they needed him. Usually, the opposite would happen.
And as for why Ron wanted his parents to take him to St. Mungo's:
Because if everything went according to plan, the healers at St. Mungo's would be able to give his parents a perfectly logical and convincing explanation for his recent character changes and emerging new abilities.
And this was sure to be more effective than any excuse or lie Ron might come up with.
End of Chapter 12.