Thanks, Ron

[alt_neville]

And thanks to all the Weasleys. I flooed over in the morning and spent the whole day there. The weather was perfect for a lazy day of fishing. Mr Weasley showed us some bait charms. Ron's better at sort of thing than me, so I wasn't surprised that he caught lots more fish. The River Otter is a quiet, sleepy sort of waterway, and we spent all afternoon wading through the pools and casting lines. Eventually we stuck our poles in the ground and talked and ate from the picnic basket Mrs Weasley sent along with us. I got a little sunburned, but I didn't mind. My nose will be peeling next week, though.

Ron tried a charm that the twins told him causes a sort of concussion under water. It's supposed to stun the fish and make them float up to the surface and then you can just scoop them up in a net. Maybe he did it wrong (or, more likely, the twins told him the wrong spell, just for fun) because it didn't make the fish float up. Instead, it just made about every frog that must have lived in the river jump out at him, aiming right for his face.

That was exciting for a few minutes there.

I think we talked about everything under the sun. About comics and Quidditch, of course. But also about school, and what it'll be like next year, now that we'll be taking electives. And about the YPL stuff we'll be doing in London this summer. Even a bit about what we might want to do when we get out of school.

Even if my bait charm didn't impress the fish much, we still caught enough for Mrs Weasley to fry them up for supper. Fish sure tastes amazing when it's been swimming around only a couple of hours before.

Mrs Weasley, I told my Gran all about how you fixed the fish. She's always trying to get Evelyn to eat fish because she says it's healthy, but Evelyn doesn't like it. That cornmeal breading made it taste awfully good, though, and so maybe Evelyn will go for that, if Gran tries fixing it that way.

Comments

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_terry]

Did Mrs Weasley make you clean the fish?

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_neville]

Yeah. Ron says that that's a rule with Mrs Weasley: you catch it, you clean it. But of course we could use a charm for that.

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_terry]

Well, after last summer, when I spent weeks working down at the fish docks, spending all day sorting and gutting and cleaning fish the muggle way, it was three months before I could bear to even look at fish again, much less eat it.

Guess I'm on Evelyn's side.

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_ron]

Yeah. It's fun to go fishing sometimes, but I sure wouldn't want to make my living at it. Especially not if it was just cleaning fish and not fishing them, y'know? How do Muggles clean fish anywiz?

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_terry]

You use a knife, slitting them along the belly and then pull the guts out and throw them to the seagulls to eat.

Those knives are real sharp. There was a kid who cut his hand real badly, down to the bone, at the table next to mine.

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_ron]

That's cleaning them? It sounds like making a nasty mess.

And dangerous, too, I guess. You pull out the guts with your hands? Really?

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_terry]

Also, if they're being sold to someone locally, we had to scale them, too. That means scraping the scales off. We used a metal tool for that, and the scales would fly all over. They'd get in your clothes, in your hair, and even fly in your mouth and nose and eyes. Ugh.

Yeah, we pulled the guts out with our hands. It was really gross.

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_sally_anne]

My mum skins animals with a knife.

She never let me do it. She said she was afraid I'd cut myself.

I can't imagine the smell with fish. Ugh.

[alt_ron]

Hey, Nev!

We totally got the twins back with that bubble charm, though. After we all went to bed I sneaked down outside their room and said 'Finite', and you should have heard them when all those wet frogs dropped down onto their beds. I was sure they'd have looked up before they put the lights out, but they never saw it until I broke the charm on them.

I don't think I've ever pulled such a good jinx on them before.

[alt_neville]

That's brilliant!

You better put a locking charm on the door to your room for the next month or so!

[alt_ron]

Yeah. Totally.

I tried asking Percy, 'cause y'know he thought it was pretty wizard I got the twins back like that. (I mean, not that he laughed or said well done or anything, but you could tell he thought they had it coming.) But you'd have thought I'd asked him to take OWLs for me or summat. Or asked him to tell me what it's like when he snogs Clearwater. I think he thought I was trying to find out what spell he uses to lock up his room.

Which, y'know, really makes me wonder what he's hiding in there!

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_sally_anne]

A signed portrait of Lucius Malfoy, maybe.

Re: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

[alt_ron]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah. But I bet it's really signed by Mr Crispin. Percy talks about him all the time now. I guess he's Percy's idea of somebody who's done everything right. 'His future's sure.' Or something like that.

The twins asked Percy yesterday if he'd asked Crispin what kind of pants he wears and where to go to get some just like them. Percy's ears went beet-coloured, and he stomped out saying he was going to tell Mum. But he didn't. Too embarrassed to, I think. Which is a really good strategy. I'll remember that.

[alt_pansy]

That does sound pretty brilliant!

I hope no frogs were hurt, though, otherwise Trevor might hold a grudge.

Did you get my owl with the book? You've got to be sure to send it back after two weeks, otherwise there'll be a fine on it. But it was the best one I could find.

[alt_ron]

I did get the book. It's awesome. Thanks. All sorts of great stuff about topping up the magic on brooms. Spells for boosting speed and getting more elevation out of Shooting Stars, which is what we've mostly got, so that's dead useful. And stabiliser charms and a whole section on spells so you can get a broom to have a burst of acceleration--that's a tricky thing because you always have to sacrifice something else to get a really intense spurt of speed that comes right when you want it.

Anywiz, the whole back section is on refreshing old brooms or converting and customising so they fly like other models or like something you designed for yourself.

It's a pity it's only two weeks, though. Cause it was a couple of days from when you checked it out that it got here by owl, and I guess I'll have to give Errol three days to get it back.

[alt_pansy]

Well, I can ask the library to renew if you think you'll need it longer. I'm glad it's what you were looking for!

[alt_ron]

Oooh. Could you?

That'd be snitch.

[alt_pansy]

I can't say I'd really enjoy fishing a great deal, but it does sound like you had fun. Ron's mum makes the best food, doesn't she?