The Weasleys, New Year, and the Call of an Adventure

The Invisibility Cloak turned out to be a counterfeit.

All it could do was to make someone invisible for a few hours before losing its effect, and that too was detectable by the simplest of charms.

However, this had failed to lower the air of great enthusiasm on the children's faces.

The group of Darcie, Daphne, Dobby, Astoria, and Ginny seemed like a flock of tiny birds fluttering here and there, chirping all over the alley. Sometimes they could be seen in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Sometimes they were fluttering in Eeylops Owl Emporium and in the playground between Ollivander's shop and the Owl Post Office.

By the time the hour of results arrived, Astoria was carrying several chocolate frogs, holding them tight against her chest.

Ginny was playing with a Remembrall; a small, clear orb, about the size of a large marble, containing smoke that turned red when it detected that the person holding it had forgotten something. Now, it was almost bleeding with the reddest smoke. However, she couldn't remember what she had forgotten.

Daphne was eying a Sneakoscope in her palm; a miniature glass spinning-top that emitted shrill noises in the presence of deception, for instance, when an untrustworthy person was near or when a deceitful event took place nearby. The blue-eyed girl kept looking around her, trying to make a sense of the object in her hand, for the magical object was screeching at the highest pitch now.

As the number of participants in the knockout round was too great, the results were going to be announced to each player individually via the slips handed over to them after their test.

They were halfway to the Flourish and Blotts when Darcie felt a disturbance in the surrounding Magic.

She wasn't alone, though. Pretty much anyone who had the slip of the Chess Tournament had sensed it right now.

Darcie showed no nervousness. She calmly took the slip out of her purse and unfolded it. All previous lettering had disappeared and a new sentence had appeared.

Pass - Please report to the Head of the Chess Tournament at Flourish and Blotts by no later than 12:30 in the afternoon.

Darcie casually folded the slip back and threw it inside her purse.

"No!" Astoria shrieked as a few chocolate frogs hopped out of her grip and got squashed under the crowd's feet. One croaked and landed on Ginny's face, and then she shrieked as well.

"Behave!" Daphne said, not unkindly.

It had no effect.

"Let's go," Darcie gestured. "Mrs. Weasley must be waiting for us."

Ginny's face lost color and the red color of the Remembrall in her hand vanished.

As they hurried, weaving a trail in the alley, a voice attracted Darcie's attention. Not only she but Daphne and Ginny had also stopped, for they too had recognized the voices.

And soon, even the faces behind the voices revealed themselves.

6 boys, three on each side, were bickering by the Daily Prophet's entrance. On one side was a redhead little boy, backed by two taller redheads, who looked exactly alike. Opposite them, there was a boy with white-blond hair, his chin towering high towards the sky in feigned arrogance. Behind him, two fat boys were standing with their arms crossed, their faces red like tomatoes.

"You all must be Weasleys," Draco was saying, a sneer playing across his lips. "Think winning a few Galleons will make you rich, do you? Did the entire pack participate in the Tournament?"

Crabbe and Goyle laughed mockingly behind Draco.

The little redhead fumed with redder anger. "At least I passed the first round," Ron snapped. "Unlike you and your overgrown gnomes."

"What did you say?!" Crabbe and Goyle simultaneously shouted.

"Did you see it?" Fred suddenly asked.

"I did…" George replied.

"It's round and red…" Fred barked.

"And lumpy too…" George added.

"What are you on about?" Draco scowled, looking extremely puzzled.

"Isn't it clear?" Fred almost laughed.

George chuckled. "We are talking about the swelling on your head."

"We heard you fell down the stairs on your birthday. No wonder you couldn't pass the first round," Fred nodded.

And then they both said together. "You have become stupid, haven't you?"

The three Weasley boys burst out in a feat of laughter.

Behind Draco, Crabbe scratched his head, not realizing the hidden mockery. "You are stupid!" he suddenly shouted. "It was Darcie, not Draco."

"Shut up!" Draco fumed.

How could Fred and George let go of the chance?

"Oh, wait!" Fred suddenly exclaimed.

"You aren't Darcie?" George asked, stunned.

"We thought you were a girl with her bodyguards," they said together.

Draco's chest swelled in anger. "You filthy…"

"Draco." Darcie's voice was neither loud nor sharp, but she was near enough to them for it to reach their ears clearly.

The girls slid towards the boys, and Darcie eyed them one by one.

Draco truly lost color as he saw Darcie's expressionless face. Behind him, Crabbe and Goyle looked away under her gaze. Ron looked Darcie up and down, not recognizing her at all. But Fred and George had, and they were raised properly enough to show a shameful blush.

Even among the children, Darcie's presence could bring about a dense silence. Not to mention Daphne was standing by her side, both looking like two statues who had come alive.

"Chess is not your strong area," Darcie told her brother. "Who can match you in flying on broomsticks? Tell mother I have passed when you meet her. She and father have gone to Gringotts."

The crowd was roaring behind them, but among the group, there was pin-drop silence.

Suddenly, Ron's eyes found his sister. "Ginny!"

Ginny found the chance to look away from the Remembrall in her hands. The brothers and the sister looked at each other.

"Ginny, what are you doing with them?" Fred asked, pulling the little girl towards him.

"Where did you get the Remembrall?" George asked.

"What's a Remembrall?" Ron chimed in.

Ginny innocently replied, "Darcie gifted it to me."

Fred and George looked at each other. Fred took the Remembrall from Ginny's hands and said, "We don't want it."

"It's mine!" Ginny shrieked.

"It's a New Year Present," Darcie told them. "You don't need to return it."

Suddenly, Astoria shouted once again. "No!"

"What happened now?" Daphne asked, turning around.

Astoria looked up and found all of them eying her. "I passed."

"…"

"…"

Darcie and Daphne raised eyebrows, and Draco's mouth hung open in shock.

"There you are!"

A woman's voice cut through the silence, and Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny's bodies shook.

Molly Weasley came towards them with large strides. "You children are a headache," she complained. "Fred, George, take Ginny back to your father and Percy. Ron, come with me. Ah! You three are also selected, right, dear?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled at Darcie and Daphne, and the girls nodded. "Well, come on, then," the witch beckoned them with a hand. "Hurry."

Darcie swept her gaze at Draco one last time and then grabbed Dobby's hand before walking towards Mrs. Weasley.

And the strange group of little children finally broke off.

The afternoon passed by with no great revelations for Darcie.

Daphne kept fidgeting in front of Dolores Umbridge, as the toad-like witch instructed the 20 children in U11 group about the rules with a tone that sounded more like a threat than advice.

Each player was going to play 19 matches in the next three days. So they had waited no longer than it was required, starting the matches right off the bat.

Darcie managed 5 matches before the clock struck 5 in the evening, winning all. However, she wasn't the only one to achieve clear results on the first day. Both Daphne and Ron had won all their matches as well.

Surprisingly, the aloof and wild Astoria won 3 of her 5 matches, drawing the remaining two. This result had truly shocked both Daphne and Ms. Greengrass.

Nonetheless, as New Year's Eve approached, all forgot about chess and worries, gathering in the Brews and Stews for a sumptuous dinner.

The entire Diagon Alley looked like a starry river, its cobbled streets packed with wizards and witches. The major families had all decided to spend the New Year this year in Diagon Alley. More so when the Grand Fair would go on till late after midnight.

The Malfoys and Greengrasses shared a table, with the adults discussing the shocking turnout the first day of the Grand Fair had showcased. All had doubted before that the ever-prudent Lucius Malfoy had finally lost his business sense. If they were to see the mocking and wide grin on his face now, that would be truly infuriating.

With the New Year coming closer and closer, the hubbub within the restaurant kept reaching new heights.

The Greengrasses had made Astoria retire for the day, as the little girl had dozed off somewhere in between with a candy in her mouth. Even Darcie and Daphne kept yawning, hidden in a corner, as they didn't want their parents to see it. None of the girls had stayed up this late before.

Darcie looked at her mother and saw Draco's head on her lap. Her brother had finally lost the battle with sleep as well. Madam Villanelle was seated with Mr. Hillam and a few other shopkeepers, drinking butterbeer.

And the thrill of music was everywhere.

Dobby crawled towards her under the table, eying Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy from the corner of his eyes. "Dobby didn't find him, miss," the house-elf squeaked in Darcie's ears.

"Who?" Daphne prodded.

"Mr. Ollivander." Darcie had indeed sent Dobby to find out if the old wandmaker was among the crowd in the restaurant. Mr. Ollivander was a regular and old customer of Ms. Crispe's Brews and Stews. So, she had thought he was here somewhere, lost in the noise.

"I am going to bring him here," Darcie whispered, taking a silvery cloak out of her purse. It was rolled into a ball and looked like a sky adorned with stardust. "Dobby, come with me."

"Darcie, it's late!" Daphne's hushed voice entered her ears. "Your mother will never allow you to go."

"Then cover for me." Darcie didn't let Daphne object anymore. By the time Daphne could say anything, Darcie had already thrown herself off the table, covering herself and Dobby under the counterfeit Invisibility Cloak. Avoiding as many as they could, they made their way out of the restaurant into the alley.

The master and her servant kept themselves to one side of the street as they headed for the Ollivander's shop. Only half an hour remained till New Year, yet the alley was still jam-packed. Grand fireworks were exploding in the sky, taking the forms of dragons, phoenixes, and qilins.

They had just reached the entrance of the Horizont Alley, where there was supposed to be a stall of the Florist witch, when Dobby suddenly paused.

"What is it, Dobby?" Darcie asked, alarmed. They were holding hands, and Darcie could feel the house-elf shaking as he stood there, rooted to the alley's cold floor.

One shouldn't forget that even though this tiny house-elf looked innocent and harmless, his magical prowess knew no bounds. Narcissa's letting her daughter roam free through Diagon Alley with him by her side was a testament to Dobby's strength.

So, for him to shake like this, most probably in fear, rang an alarm in Darcie's mind. That none could see them because of the Invisibility Cloak, did nothing to calm Darcie's trembling courage.

Her hand reached into her purse, and her fingers found the whistle given to her by Madam Villanelle. "What is it?" she asked again. "Don't be afraid, Dobby."

The word "afraid" jolted the house-elf, making him regain his senses. "Do… Dobby is not afraid, miss," he squeaked. "There… there is a strange and terrifying magical object near us."

"Where?" Darcie blurted, a shiver of dense excitement running down her little spine.

Dobby silently pointed at the stall in front of them.

The Florist had gone, and her place had been taken by a new, temporary stall. A wizard, wearing a cowl, and his face hidden, was sitting behind the stall. Even though the stall and the wizard were out in the open, they almost looked like they were cut off from the world.

Darcie saw dozens of odd objects resting on the short stall in front of the seller, and her green eyes lit up like two poisonous stars.

The call of an adventure had never been stronger.