Chapter 472: Before the Start of Term
Kyle didn't find out why Chris had to rush back to the Ministry of Magic overnight until the following evening. In short, the Ministry was severely understaffed, and the few employees in the Department of International Magical Cooperation couldn't manage the influx of work. Nearly everyone who could be spared had been called in to assist.
Even Mr. Weasley wasn't exempt. For an entire week, he left at dawn and didn't return until late at night.
During this time, Kyle had most of his meals at the Weasleys' house. Each time he went, Fred and George would snicker nearby, unable to resist teasing him. They'd been like this since their return from camp, all because of the time Kyle and Cedric had conspired to stuff them into a suitcase. Cedric escaped their teasing since he lived farther from The Burrow, leaving Kyle to endure their constant jibes.
Finally, fed up, Kyle promised to take them on a proper "tour" inside the suitcase when school began. This managed to quiet them down, at least for a few days.
Around this time, a major row broke out between Percy and Mrs. Weasley. The cause was another article by Rita Skeeter, who somehow got wind of the rumor that Mr. Weasley had supposedly focused only on helping a few French students to curry favor with the Beauxbatons headmistress, ignoring the deaths of a dozen wizards. Anyone with common sense could tell it was a fabrication, but Percy took it at face value and even criticized Mr. Weasley's judgment over breakfast, much to the irritation of Bill and Charlie.
Mrs. Weasley, furious, gave Percy a scolding he wouldn't soon forget, while Charlie "demonstrated" exactly what a dragon keeper could do. Percy fled to the Ministry of Magic mid-meal, sporting a pair of black eyes.
"Don't pay him any mind," Bill told Harry and the others afterward. "Rita Skeeter never writes anything good about anyone. She's got a knack for twisting facts, and unfortunately, too many people without any brains believe her."
Before Harry knew it, the last day of the holidays had arrived, but he still hadn't received any letters from Sirius or Lupin. That morning, Kyle made a trip to 12 Grimmauld Place, but it was empty, and the House-elf was nowhere to be found.
There had been no updates from the Ministry, either; evidently, Sirius's retrial had been put on hold. Fudge seemed reluctant to take on Crouch just yet, especially with the ongoing fallout from the Quidditch World Cup.