"Oh, Harry, dear heart, there's nothing to be sorry for." Her face was kind, and open. She held out her hand for him to take if he wanted. "Come on, now. Let's get the rest of the way down the hill. I've brought some games for you and the others to play."
Harry bit his lip and peered at the other children, but didn't move to take her hand.
George ran a hand through his shock of red hair and scuffed a toe of his trainer in the grass. "Hey, Harry, sorry for sneaking up on ye like that. I didn't realize you didn't like it. Ronnikins likes being tossed 'round like that."
"Don't call me that!" Ron growled, fists clenched by his sides. Then he turned back to Harry. "They're just stupid, you know?" he said quietly.
"No, not stupid," Harry said, and reached for Treacle, who jumped into his arms and butted his chin with her head. Having her in his arms soothed him more than any words. He took a deep, much slower breath. "I jus' wasn't 'specting it."
"Oh, sweetie, no one expects to be manhandled like that," Mrs. Weasley said, and frowned at George again. "But my twins are masters of doing the unexpected."
Fred nodded. "It's what we're--"
"—best at," finished George. "But I really am sorry."
"S'okay," Harry said. He shrugged and stood up, feeling embarrassed now. He was such a dunce; he should have known Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let him get hurt. "Can we go now?"
"Of course, Harry dear." Mrs. Weasley stood as well, but kept a closer eye on them as they continued down the hill to a fairly open, flat area near Hagrid's hut, but far enough away from the Forbidden Forest that it provided little temptation. Harry knew he wasn't allowed in there anyway. That was why it was Forbidden.
"All right," Mrs. Weasley said. She pulled a small bag out of one of her pockets and put it on the ground before tapping it with her wand. The bag grew and grew and grew, and in seconds was almost as big as Harry.
He gaped at it, and Ron grinned. "You never seen anything 'nlarged before?" Harry shook his head, and Ron continued, "Mum's a wiz at it. She can pack more into a bag than Father Christmas."
Harry gave him an uncertain smile; he didn't know from Father Christmas, but he suspected Ron meant Santa Claus, who always brought Dudders dozens of toys, but nothing for Harry because freaks and bad boys didn't get anything for Christmas.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley was taking an assortment of things out of the huge bag and laying them out in a circle around herself. "Ginny dear, will you catch that, please?" she asked, pointing at something with springs and wheels and some kind of whistling part that trundled away from her.
"Yes, Mum," Ginny said quietly – she was near as quiet as Harry, and he was glad for it – and chased after the thing, scooped it up and put it back in its place. "Stay there," she scolded, shaking her finger at it, and Harry giggled, covering his mouth with his hand.
Ginny looked over at him and smiled shyly. "It's a Funderbus. Always wandering off, too."
Harry didn't ask what a Funderbus was, figuring he would be told or not, but it wasn't his right to ask questions.
"Mum," Fred said in a sing-songy voice that was not quite a whine, "can't we—"
"—just play now? You brought our—"
"—brooms and all."
Mrs. Weasley smiled, but looked a little weary, like she heard this all the time. "Lessons first, boys, you know that. Then play time."
"Awww, Mum—" George started, but Mrs. Weasley held up a hand and he trailed off before complaining. Mrs. Weasley didn't even yell at him for arguing. Harry was amazed.
"Now, Harry dear, you're new to this, so why don't you stand by me," said Mrs. Weasley, and gestured to a spot beside her. "The others will be spread out inside the circle." As she said it, the twins, Ron and Ginny each took a place within the circle of objects, some of which were making low humming noises, and some of which had moving parts and lots of arms that seemed to be waving at him.
Harry nodded and let Treacle down again, but she followed him as he stepped into the circle to stand by Mrs. Weasley.
"Excellent, dear." She waited, eyebrows lifted disapprovingly, while the twins swapped places with each other several times before settling down, and then she smiled down at Harry. "Now, I'm going to ask a question or pose a problem, and each of you will try and find the answer. You can use any of the objects in the circle to help you. Each of you will figure your own answer, and – except for Fred and George, dears, I know – it's unlikely any two people's answers will be the same. All right, Harry?"
Harry had absolutely no idea what she meant except that he was going to have to answer questions. It sounded almost like school. Well, he could probably do that, except he knew he didn't know near enough about anything to answer questions. Like Uncle Vernon said, he was lazy and stupid. But he nodded just the same.
"All right then," Mrs. Weasley said. "Please tell me four kinds of plants that are used in potions. If you're seven or older, I want you to describe the plants, too. If you're nine or older," she added, looking at the twins, "in addition to describing them, tell me where they can be found, and how to harvest them for peak performance." She grinned. "Go!"
The Weasley children all scrambled to the devices that surrounded them, and there was a sudden cacophony of sound: whistles, churning gears and the susurrus of metal and wood and cloth rubbing together. Lights appeared and glowing pictures of plants and trees and all sorts of things, over the objects and surrounding the children.
Harry stared, with no idea what to do. He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and bit down hard before stumbling almost blindly toward the edge of the circle. A squishy object sat there that looked like a plush animal with an elephant's head, except it had horns like a rhino, and a tiger's legs and paws. And several flaps on its belly that appeared to be liftable. Weird.
Crouching in front of the thing, Harry covertly checked to see what the others were doing. The twins each held a many-armed . . . thing made of cloth, and were poking each other with the arms. Ginny was sitting with her object, which looked almost like a scooter with many extra wheels, in her lap, and tapping the wheels with her index finger as if it were a wand. Ron was hunched over the Funderbus, poking it and seemingly talking to it, too.
Taking a slow breath, Harry lifted one of the flaps on the elephant thingy's belly. A tiny picture of a tree appeared on the fuzzy surface, almost like a telly screen, but then it grew and grew until Harry was surrounded by color and the smell of damp moss. A cool breeze touched his cheek like a soft breath. He spun around, mouth hanging open, staring at the scene. He was in the middle of a dense wood, with tall trees whose topmost branched nearly blocked out the sky. The ground underfoot was spongy, covered with dead pine needles and leaves, and a long-since fallen tree lay almost horizontal nearby.
Where was Hogwarts?
A sudden voice startled him and made him jump. "What do you want to know?" it said.
Harry jerked around till he saw who had spoken, and his gaze came to rest on a larger version of the elephant-tiger thing, which was sitting on its haunches and gazing back at him. The creature cocked its head to the side, and – if Harry interpreted the show of teeth correctly – smiled.
"Um . . ." Harry swallowed hard and hugged his arms around his middle. Was this thing going to tell him the answer to Mrs. Weasley's question? Or was it going to try and eat him? "Um, I'm meant to find plants for potions, sir."
"Ahhh," the creature said, though his mouth only moved a little, and not like he was really forming words. "That's an easy one. How many?"
"Er . . . four?"
"Very well," the elephant-tiger said. It stood up and stalked closer to Harry. Harry took a step back. The creature made that smile thing again, its trunk lifting and swaying slightly as it spoke. "Be not afraid, child. I am here to help, as I have helped many children before you."