Just before Ron mentioned the names of these two young people, Harry already guessed who they were because, as he passed through the living room, the magical clock's hands representing these two young individuals were both pointing to the 'home' position.
Ron's joke was clearly not the first time it was told in the house, as Charlie and Bill only rolled their eyes and showed a touch of helplessness, but soon their expressions returned to normal.
"How are you, Harry?"
The younger of the two brothers, Harry, was smiling and extending a big hand. Harry grasped it, feeling that his fingers touched many calluses and blisters. It must be Charlie, who was studying dragons in Romania.
Charlie was about the same build as the pair of twins, thicker, bigger, and rounder than Percy and Ron's bean poles. He had a pleasantly rotund face with craggy features and a tan speckled with dark freckles so thick they nearly formed a single brown mask. His arms were muscular and one bore an impressive burn scar that gleamed in the firelight.
Bill shook hands with Harry as well. Bill looked somewhat surprising to Harry. Harry knew he worked at Gringotts, and he had been the school's male prefect during their time at Hogwarts. Harry had always thought of Bill as a carbon copy of Percy, just a few years older, with the same exaggerated horror of breaking school rules and tendency to boss around everyone around him.
Looking at him today, he was nothing like that. Bill looked very cool. He was the tallest of the brothers, with his long hair tied in a ponytail at the back of his head, and he wore an earring on his ear, which had a small thing hanging from it like a fan. Even though Bill's clothes were not out of place even if he went to a rock concert.
Honestly, it's impossible not to feel curious.
Harry had never dealt with Charlie or Bill, and his most profound impression of them was undoubtedly the stories he had heard from Hagrid when Professor Branagh was still an investigator.
Harry couldn't see Bill and Charlie as wizards of the same generation as Professor Branagh.
Charlie and Bill, although the oldest brothers of Ron's age, and both grown up and working, their aura was still a kind of youthful attitude that Harry could understand. And Professor Branagh, even if he was compared to Professor Dumbledore for stability, Harry had never felt out of place.
"Alright, if you're really curious, Harry—"
Bill could see the expression on Harry's face and knew what he was thinking. He tilted his head and looked a bit worried.
"After dinner, I can take some time to tell you what it was like when we were at Amortius. "
"It really is hard to believe—"
Bill's story was obviously something Sirius had heard before. He thought about the mood of the Amortius Branagh today and frowned, saying.
"He actually kept quiet in Slytherin for five years before showing his true abilities. If that were today, he would have burned down their houses, shops, and workshops overnight if those pure-blood wizard families who cling to old traditions dared to trouble him."
"Well, that may not necessarily be the case--" Professor Remus couldn't help but smile, "If you have enough gold, he would still be willing to talk to you."
"That's true as well!"
Sirius recalled the conversation he had with Amortius that night in the old Black manor and couldn't help but laugh as well.
Although there is now Sirius, Harry still has a special affection for Professor Branagh, which is hard to describe. It's probably a sense of shared suffering and his strong personality, like Dumbledore, makes him easy to gain others' admiration.
Harry was eager to hear what Branagh was like when he was still a student at Hogwarts from Bill and Charlie's mouths, but he was still holding the Hedwig's cage, and his suitcase was still floating. After exchanging pleasantries with Bill and Charlie, who were known for their good-naturedness in the Weasley family, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed to Ron's room to put their suitcases away.
Just as they turned the first corner on the stairs, a sudden loud bang from an upstairs room nearly made Harry stumble down the stairs.
Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, whose expressions were as usual, confusedly blinking his eyes. Before he could ask for an explanation, a door on the second-floor landing suddenly opened, and a face emerged, with horn-rimmed glasses and an impatient expression.
So Harry held back his question and greeted this person,
"Hello, Percy--"
"Oh, hello, Harry!" Percy didn't show any surprise or joy upon seeing Harry, as he continued to stare up angrily.
"I don't understand who is making all the noise. You know, I am working here--I have to write a report for the office, but something always happens! There are people thundering up and down the stairs all the time, making it hard for me to concentrate!"
"We're not thundering around!"
Ron angrily said, "We're just walking normally. If we disturb the highest secret of the Ministry of Magic, we're sorry!"
Another sudden bang rang out, and Percy dropped Harry and charged up the stairs, hammering on the door with a fierce expression. Ron rolled his eyes and started walking again, leading Harry up the stairs.
Ron's room was unchanged from Harry's last visit, still adorned with posters of Ron's favorite Quidditch team—the Chudley Cannons—everywhere. There was a fish tank on the windowsill, which had once contained frog eggs and now held a frog about the same size as Neville's Rolf. The old, out-of-date rat Scabbers was gone, replaced by the grey owl that had delivered letters to Hogsmeade for Harry—a piglet seemed very excited upon seeing Hedwig circling in the sky outside, knocking against its cage with a clink-clank.
"Fred and George will be sleeping with us tonight, because Bill and Charlie took over their room," Ron said as Harry helped him stuff the alleyway into the bedside table,
"Percy insists on having a separate room for himself because he needs to work."
"What's wrong with Fred and George?" Harry sat on the edge of the bed, panting, "That noise was caused by them, wasn't it?"
"They haven't stopped for a single summer, no one knows what they're up to."
Harry told Ron and Hermione about the things that happened before he left the Dursleys, and his actions to help them get out of trouble. Ron and Hermione had completely different views on this.
"That's a waste of effort, Harry--"
Ron took out a packet of crisps from the bedside table, opened it, and divided it between Harry and Hermione. He munched on it while looking at Harry with some dissatisfaction, "You shouldn't have stopped Sirius, Harry. You should have let them taste what it's like to be locked in a cupboard, so they could learn their lesson properly."
"And then let Sirius go back to Azkaban for a while?"
Hermione said with a sarcastic tone,
"Don't forget, Ron, the Ministry won't let any witch who uses magic to abuse Muggles go unpunished."
"That's hard to say—" Ron countered, "See how Draco's dad and Snape got away with it!"
"If you want Sirius to become a wizard like Lucius Malfoy, then I have nothing to say about it."
Harry was already used to Hermione and Ron arguing, so he knew how to stop their fight. He was going to tell them about how his scar had been painful during the summer, but Ginny suddenly pushed open the door.
"Hello, Harry, happy birthday--"
Ginny is Ron's younger sister and has been extremely obsessed with Harry ever since he first visited the Burrow.
"Oh, thank you--"
Harry stood up from the bed and smiled at Ginny.
Seeing his sister's flushed cheeks, Ron shrugged and threw the crisp packet into a heap out the window, clapping his hands and saying,
"Come on, we might be able to help them downstairs. I just saw Sirius and the others setting up your birthday party in the garden!"
(End of this chapter)
