"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Percy and Dad had a blazing row," Fred said.
"I've never seen Dad like that with anyone else, though Mum's always been one for shouting."
"It happened shortly after term ended," Ron said.
"We were all preparing to move to Order headquarters. Percy came swanning home, absolutely chuffed with himself, announcing he'd been promoted—made Fudge's Senior Assistant. Imagine that for someone barely a year out of school! Brilliant position, really. I reckon he expected Dad to be over the moon..."
"Only Dad wasn't," Fred said grimly.
"Why not?" Harry pressed.
"Apparently Fudge had been rampaging through the Ministry daily, ensuring no one maintained contact with Dumbledore," George explained.
"Dad was convinced the only reason Fudge wanted Percy in his office was to use him as a spy—on our family and Dumbledore," Fred continued.
"Fudge suspects Dad, knows he's Dumbledore's friend, and what with Dad's fascination with Muggle culture, he's always considered Dad rather eccentric."
"But Percy defended him," Ron said with a bitter laugh.
"Went absolutely barking. Said—well, said loads of horrible things. Claimed he'd been struggling against Dad's tarnished reputation ever since joining the Ministry. Said Dad lacked ambition, which explained why we'd always been—you know—why money was tight for so long. Even said our entire family was surviving on Orli's charity..."
"What?" Orli exclaimed incredulously, while Ginny made an indignant noise.
"I know," Ron said quietly.
"Gets worse. Called Dad an idiot dancing attendance on Dumbledore, said Dumbledore was heading for serious trouble and Dad would fall with him. Said he—Percy—knew where his loyalties belonged, and that was with the Ministry. If Mum and Dad intended becoming Ministry traitors, he wanted everyone knowing he no longer considered himself part of this family. Packed that very night and left... He's living in London now."
"But Percy must realize Voldemort's returned," Harry said slowly.
"He's not stupid—surely he knows his parents wouldn't risk everything without proof."
"Mum tried everything," Ron said hollowly.
"Went to London attempting to reason with Percy, but he slammed the door in her face. Please, let's just forget him."
The room sank into oppressive silence.
After several minutes, Hermione finally broke the quiet, changing subjects:
"Orli, have you been reading the Daily Prophet recently? I mean—you've just returned, so you might not know..."
"Haven't seen the latest editions. What's the news?" Orli asked quickly.
"The Prophet's portraying Harry as some deluded, attention-seeking individual who fancies himself a great tragic hero," Hermione said rapidly.
"Even though Rita Skeeter's no longer writing for them, other Prophet staff continue their character assassinations. Whenever some story emerges, they'll sneer 'here's another Harry Potter legend,' and if anyone suffers some ridiculous mishap, they'll quip 'hopefully this chap won't develop a forehead scar, or we'll be expected to worship him next'—"
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