Harry Potter: Who cares about belated motherly love?

I held the bag and Fred held the carton.

Following Fred, we entered the forest deep in the backyard, completely out of sight of the house.

After reaching a place where he could not be easily seen, Fred took out a box from the tree trunk.

"Get the box out of the tree?"

"Well, I cast a simple sleight of hand so that I wouldn't be seen. Although I haven't got the wand yet, I can still use some magic in a small area."

"The Vanishing Spell."

Fred lifted the spell.

Then, the invisible tree hole appeared, but there was only a small space inside, just enough to hold a box.

"As a secret base, this is a bit small, isn't it?"

Fred smiled smugly at my concern.

"Okay."

"Wow--!"

As soon as the box was opened, a small but secret base-like space full of children's dreams appeared before my eyes.

The wooden shelves were filled with various items, obviously handmade, herbs hung from the ceiling, ancient mixing utensils, empty jars and bottles filled with herbs and mysterious liquids, tools, screws, nails, etc. were neatly classified and placed, and there were also some tattered books.

Toy boxes and old wooden boxes found in the Muggle world are filled with woodworking supplies and mysterious magical instruments.

On the simple table used by children abandoned in a Muggle school, there were some unfinished magical instruments, sketches, and papers with magic circles. The wall above the table was covered with old parchments with drawings of magic circles.

More than enough for one child to work in it.

"What is this? It's amazing..."

I was stunned and speechless.

Fred showed it to me proudly.

"Although it's still very small, an expansion spell has been cast on the box. Bill also helped, but after he left, it was basically just George and I who did it. The box has also been waterproofed, so it's no problem to put it outside. When we have a wand in the future, we plan to make it bigger."

"What are these things that look like ancient magic circles? Where did you get them from?"

"Oh, this? This is from an antique shop I secretly helped out in when we were still able to go to Diagon Alley. The owner gave it to me because he saw that I liked it. Although he himself didn't quite know what it was, I knew at first glance that it was very powerful. Even without a wand, it can be used as long as it is infused with magic power. That shop often gave me some ancient items of unknown use as rewards. However, I haven't been there for a long time..."

"…That's amazing! My brother is such a genius! I was curious about what you were doing when Percy and I were reading in the bookstore. I didn't know where you made all kinds of magic tools. It turns out you were here. I was wondering where you got these tools from. There's obviously nothing in your room."

Fred rubbed his nose and smiled, "Actually, it's like this. I always felt that you were a little difficult to approach. I didn't know what you were thinking, so I didn't talk to you much. Now that I think about it, I should have discussed it with you earlier."

I told the truth, "Same here, right? If Percy hadn't become what he is now, I wouldn't have thought of talking to you about this. Besides, I was trying to accept the existence of magic at that time."

"You can use magic now, right?"

"I guess so. Every time I lose my temper, there are always some snapping things happening, and things are floating up. A lot of incredible things happen. It's really hard to reconcile these with the common sense I used to have.

Plus, my parents are like that too... so I don't know what I should say about anything...

I had very little communication with my parents when Bill and Charlie were home, so I never imagined that things would deteriorate to this extent after they left.”

When he heard the word parents, Fred's face was filled with worry.

"…What do you think will happen next?"

“According to my prediction, if my uncle still has a little conscience, he should protect Percy as soon as possible.

The problem is us.

It's easy to imagine that we would be treated even worse if only Percy was taken away, and while the ideal situation would be to take us all away, there were too many of us to hold out much hope.

Maybe Bill will try to take all of us brothers in when he comes of age, but even if he does, it would be difficult for him to have enough financial resources to take us in right away.

Even if we applied for a scholarship, we would not qualify because both parents were there and the family had income.

If Bill and Charlie both graduated, maybe they could still get by, but they would still need some help, right?

By the way...how is mom's family doing now?"

Fred replied, shaking his head.

"My mother originally had a fiancé, but she seemed to have done something when she was young, and the other party was furious and demanded compensation, and the family, which was already on the decline, fell into complete decline.

As for Dad, he was younger than Mom and was still studying at Hogwarts, so he knew about their affairs a long time ago. Since their relationship was not good to begin with, they resolved it privately.

The Prewett family was originally inherited by my mother's two brothers, but they were both killed by dark wizards, and the family fell apart.

Now there are only a few old people left, but they hate my mother, and my mother hates them too, so there is no contact. "

"Are they Aurors?"

"They are members of the Order of the Phoenix founded by Dumbledore. Dad and Mom are also members."

"What is that? I'm not quite sure yet. What exactly is that organization?"

Seeing my puzzled expression, Fred explained:

"The Order of the Phoenix is ​​an organization created by Dumbledore to fight against dark wizards."

"Is this a voluntary organization? Are there salaries? If an accident occurs, is there compensation?"

He answered me with a wry smile.

"Probably not? Being a member of that organization is an honor in itself and a symbol of bravery."

"But if Aurors exist, wouldn't this organization be unnecessary?

This is what "many ships cannot sink" means. "

"What do you mean?"

"This is an Eastern proverb, which means that if there are too many people in charge, things will go in the wrong direction, and if there are too many people in charge, the scene will be chaotic.

Dumbledore is the headmaster of the school, right? What on earth is he doing? He's not going to pull students into this organization, is he?

If you are both an Auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, whose instructions should you follow first? What if they give you conflicting orders? "

"That's true... But I wonder if our parents were recruited when they were in school?"

"As a teacher... no, as a teaching staff, this behavior is really dereliction of duty. It is not what an educator should do at all. A teacher's duty is to protect students from threats. Even if we can barely say that considering the background at the time, recruiting them may be excusable, but what if they die? What if there are children left at home? We have so many children in our family, there is no doubt that they will be desperate, right? Even if there is no compensation, don't we have the benefits of special insurance after joining the organization? For pure-blood nobles, continuing the family bloodline is the most important thing. It is unreasonable to risk one's life."

"But, in that era, if you didn't dare to resist, death would come. Our parents might have fought for us children, to leave a better future. Besides, the Ministry of Magic itself is not a monolithic entity."

"Hmm... the Ministry of Magic is just like that... If you join an organization, do you need to pay dues? Who pays for the activities? Is it Dumbledore? But is the salary of the headmaster of Hogwarts that high? Even if there is no salary, will the expenses be reimbursed? Who is responsible for the fund management? Even for Muggle volunteer organizations, the more formal ones will at least send activity reports and financial statements to donors or members every year. Does the Order of the Phoenix have such things? Our family is so poor, they must not be supporting us, right?"

After I said this, he fell silent. Is this really possible?

So I continued, "To be honest, I don't really understand where 'that person' comes from. Although he is under the banner of pure-bloodism, his origin is a mystery. Although those pure-blood nobles seem to follow him, I can't find any information about him no matter how hard I search. I looked through the pure-blood directory in the bookstore, but I didn't find any 'Voldemort family'. So is he claiming to be one? If he is claiming to be one, then he is probably not a pure-blood noble at all. I have always found this very suspicious, but if that is the case, then why do those pure-blood nobles follow him? A non-pure-blood person is under the banner of pure-bloodism... It's really strange. Are people asking questions knowing the answer, or are they treating him as a special person? It's really a mystery. Did he brainwash everyone?

But, to be honest, I have similar doubts about the Order of the Phoenix. Both organizations seem to be a group of brainwashed people gathered together."

"Brainwash?..."

Fred swallowed.

Well, it's a little hard to explain this clearly.

"How should I put it? I'm not sure how to explain it. My ability may not be enough to explain it clearly. This is not magic, but guiding other people's thinking through clever language or other means. Well... let's talk about this issue in detail later, after our family's problems are solved. As for brainwashing, there should be a lot of related books in Muggle bookstores. You can read them and learn by yourself. I'm not sure. It would be great if I had money so I could buy books. Even if I don't have money, Muggle bookstores are still easier for people to browse."

"Right now, we're counting on Bill and Charlie to help us solve some problems, and all we can do is try to take good care of Percy."

I really didn't want to continue explaining what brainwashing is, so I forced myself to end the topic.

Although Fred looked like he had more questions, he just nodded and agreed with me.