On the weekend, Arthur took Ranni and Hermione to Diagon Alley.
The Grangers didn't come along. They weren't worried at all about the trio's safety.
After watching Arthur and Ranni spar in the Zen Garden, they figured that if anyone needed worrying about, it would be whoever was foolish enough to provoke them.
Well, Arthur and Ranni did call their little duels—each spell carrying the blast force of a rocket launcher—"playfighting."
At the gates of Gringotts, the three waited until the Weasley family arrived.
The twins spotted Arthur and brought the whole family over to greet him.
"Boss, good morning! And this is—?"
"Ranni, my fiancée."
Just one short sentence shocked the entire Weasley family.
It was the twins who recovered first. "Wow, impressive! How come we never heard of this before? By Eastern custom, shouldn't we be giving you a red packet?"
Arthur just smiled, shook his head, and diverted the subject.
"Not going to introduce your family to me?"
"Oh, right! These are our parents, Arthur and Molly—"
"This is our family's little treasure, Ginny," Fred cut in.
"And, the Weasley family's resident oddball, Percy!" the two chimed together in mock-seriousness.
Arthur couldn't help but laugh.
Who was really the oddball of the Weasley family?
These twin brothers spent all day at school pulling pranks, running wild, and raising mischief. Compared to them, their elder brother Percy was overly serious, rigid, rule-abiding, a proper model student who knew nothing of flexibility.
Compared to the twins, he was simply the opposite extreme.
Maybe the Weasley family specialized in producing "weirdos"?
Though the others seemed fairly normal…
Oh, wait—Ron was rather thick-headed, and Ginny… well, she seemed like Harry's fangirl. Best not to think too hard about that.
Pushing aside those random thoughts, Arthur greeted the family politely before asking,
"Where's Harry?"
The question left the Weasleys stunned.
Right—where was Harry?
Seeing their soot-smudged faces, Arthur could pretty much guess what happened.
Most likely, the family had traveled by Floo Powder. Stand inside a fireplace connected to the Floo Network, state your destination, toss in the powder—poof, you're transported.
Convenient enough, except each trip left you covered in soot. Nothing a simple Scourgify couldn't fix.
So why hadn't this whole family cleaned themselves up instead of wandering around ash-gray?
"Oh no! He didn't get nervous and say the wrong destination, did he?" Mrs. Weasley was the first to react.
Everyone nodded in agreement at the guess.
"Should we split up to look for Harry?" Ron was visibly worried for his best mate.
"Maybe we don't need to."
Arthur shook his head. His spiritual sense had already picked up on Harry—just at the edge between Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, being led out by none other than Hagrid.
Following Arthur's gaze, the Weasleys soon spotted the half-giant's towering frame.
"This world has giants too?" Ranni tugged on Arthur's sleeve, whispering into his ear.
"Mm. But he's a half-blood."
"Figured. He's weaker than a full giant, but smarter too."
Even though Ranni had read up on this world's history, she still couldn't shake off her battlefield instincts. Meeting someone, she instinctively assessed their strength.
But unlike the straightforward blood-and-steel conflicts of the Lands Between, the wizarding world revolved more around politics, relationships, and intrigue.
Not that the Lands Between lacked scheming—only that there, strength spoke loudest. If you had power, you used it directly.
Not like Dumbledore—hailed as the most powerful wizard alive, yet shackled by too many ties and obligations. Even to defeat Voldemort, he had to abide by prophecy and groom a "Chosen One."
Seeing Harry return safely, everyone sighed in relief.
A bit of questioning revealed Mrs. Weasley's guess was right—Harry, too nervous, had mispronounced his destination and wound up in Knockturn Alley. Luckily, Hagrid had been there buying… anti-flesh-eating slug repellent?
Otherwise, Harry might have already been snatched up by some Dark wizard for nasty experiments.
Arthur wasn't overly concerned—Harry was safe now. What really caught his interest was why Hagrid was in Knockturn Alley.
As far as he knew, there was no such thing as "slug repellent" sold there. And besides, wasn't that something the Care of Magical Creatures professor should care about?
Hagrid—the same man who thought it was fine to raise a dragon at Hogwarts—wandering Knockturn Alley without getting up to something shady? Arthur didn't buy it.
Speaking of professors, he suddenly remembered Hogwarts' current Care of Magical Creatures teacher: Professor Kettleburn.
Arthur had met him a few times. A man utterly obsessed with dangerous magical creatures, he'd lost one arm and most of a leg to them, and had been put on probation no fewer than 62 times during his career.
A true fanatic—one who loved magical beasts to the point of madness.
In that sense, perhaps comparable to Newt Scamander… except at least Scamander had gotten married and had children. Kettleburn was still single and nearly at retirement age.
If Arthur recalled right, in another year or two, Hagrid would be taking over the position.
And thinking about it, that made sense. Hagrid had the same eccentric hobby of raising dangerous beasts as pets. His half-giant physique gave him an edge even Kettleburn lacked.
Hell, Hagrid might as well have been Kettleburn's disciple—their styles were identical.
Watching Hagrid chat warmly with the Weasleys, Arthur finally asked,
"So, Hagrid, how well do you know Professor Kettleburn?"
"Oh! You know Professor Kettleburn? Don't tell me—you like those adorable little fellas too?" Hagrid's voice lit up at the mention of the name.
Yeah, judging by his tone, Arthur thought, there was definitely something between the two.
And by "adorable little fellas," Hagrid wasn't talking about puppies. His definition of "cute" started with creatures like Hippogriffs—rated five stars for danger.
"I've met him a few times. You two seem to share the same interests, so I was curious."
Arthur didn't bother denying his interest in magical creatures. His Zen Garden was vast, but still a little too lifeless. With Hagrid as a friend, he could have a steady supply of "livestock."
Hagrid, thrilled to have found a kindred spirit, rambled on enthusiastically for over five minutes.
At last, overwhelmed by the half-giant's passion, Arthur found an excuse to drag Ranni and Hermione away.
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