the_shrubbery (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_shrubbery) wrote2012-09-09 10:21 am
the_shrubbery) wrote2012-09-09 10:21 am
Eckeltricity
I've had a couple of ideas for some HP shorties, and this is the first I could actually bring to paper (digital paper, as it were). We'll see if I can bring others to follow.
All eyes of the party were on Ron. Ron, counting down the seconds on his watch, had one hand already on the switch and was muttering furiously. The tips of his eyes were bright red. Hermione stepped up to her husband and covered his hand on the switch with her own.
‘It’s only a lamp, Ron,’ she said. ‘It’s not going to explode.’
‘Yes, but what if I do it wrong?’ Ron said.
‘There is no way to do it wrong,’ Hermione said. ‘There is just on and off.’
‘Ronald?’ Arthur said, bobbing up and down on his feet. ‘I believe it is time.’
In spite of his close friendship with the Grangers, Arthur had still not quite managed the knack of dressing like a Muggle. He had done his best on the momentuous occasion, Harry was sure, and nobody had had the heart to point out to him that he was wearing riding breeches and a tennis shirt.
‘Right,’ said Ron. ‘Yeah.’
He took a deep breath and flipped the switch on the lamp. The lightbulb flickered a bit and then glowed steadily. The assembled crowd applauded hard. Ron blushed even more and tried to take the many congratulations with good grace, protesting that he had not really done anything. Arthur raised his wand and shot some sparks in the air to get the attention of the crowd.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said and raised the champagne flute he had been inspecting with fascination earlier in the afternoon, ‘a toast!’
‘’ear, ‘ear!’ George cried.
Harry wondered if he had only imagined it or if George had glanced to his right for the split of a second when he realised no echo was coming from there. Arthur seemed to have seen it as well for he cleared his throat before he continued.
‘A toast,’ he cried, ‘to my son Ron, the first Weasley to have electricity!’
‘Trust dad,’ Ginny muttered in Harry’s ear and he grinned.
He let his eyes wander around the cheering crowd. There were Mr and Mrs Granger – Matthew and Christine, he corrected himself – looking slightly amused at the excitement the simple lamp from IKEA had produced. There was Percy, still clutching the present he had brought. It was of course a book, Approaching Muggle Technologies: A Guide To Alternative Lifestyles. Harry guessed that Percy was sceptical of his brother’s new enterprise, but trying his best to be supportive. Molly Weasley was now closely observing her husband, who in turn eyed the lamp with unabated fascination.
‘Amazing,’ he muttered.
‘Don’t touch it, Arthur,’ Molly said. ‘You don’t want to destroy it.’
‘It’s quite safe to touch, Molly,’ Hermione said. ‘As long as you stay away from the bulb, because that is hot.’
‘The bulb?’ Arthur repeated and looked at the foot of the lamp, as if expecting it to have grown from a bulb.
‘The light bulb,’ Hermione explained. ‘The coil inside is metal, and when it is heated, it glows.’
‘Fascinating,’ Arthur said once more.
‘Are you not afraid it’s going to go haywire?’ Dean asked. ‘I always thought electricity didn’t work with too much magic around. I remember I once brought a walkman to Hogwarts with me and it fried the first day.’
‘Well, we did worry about that,’ Hermione said. ‘But we figured that with so many families these days being half-and-half, there had to be some way around it. We asked around and it appears that if you protect the wires and cables really well, it works. At least we hope it will.’
‘What’re you going to use it for?’ Neville asked.
‘A computer, mainly,’ Hermione said. ‘We’re getting internet connection next week. All my family are online now and always want to send me e-mails, and I really want to keep in touch more with them.’
Arthur, very knowledgeable after having learnt about the internet from the Grangers before, could now be heard to explain it to Mrs Longbottom.
‘I believe it uses some sort of Morse code,’ he said. ‘But more advanced, I think. It can send signals all over the world, in a second. Hermione said it’s a bit like Floo, but you don’t need a fireplace, only a teflon connection.’
‘And Ron’s really in love with my parents’ telly,’ Hermione continued, ‘so I believe we’re going to get one of those soon.’
Sure enough, at the other end of the room, Ron could be seen indicating to Percy and Audrey where exactly he wanted to place the television. The conversation around Harry and Hermione abated for a moment and the words ‘blue box, you see, like the phone-boxes muggles have’ could be heard from across the room.
‘He’s really into Doctor Who,’ Hermione said. ‘Personally, I want a microwave. I’m so sick of trying to cook with magic and failing, and Ron’s no better.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Dean said. ‘It’s all great if you’ve your own house-elf, like the Saviour of Wizardkind here, or if your wife runs a pub, but I wouldn’t get rid of my mum’s microwave for anything.’
Harry could feel the heat creeping into his face; it was simply no good to tell his friends not to call him that.
‘So I expect you’re going to get hooked up soon too?’ Neville asked Harry and Ginny.
‘Well, I don’t know,’ Ginny said. ‘Harry keeps suggesting it, but I’m just not sure.’
She cradled her slightly rounded belly.
‘I mean, Hermione keeps telling me it’s safe, but I really don’t know, all those wires in the house, it’s got to be dangerous,’ she said. ‘Besides, all Harry really wants to have it for is one of those – what are they called, Harry? Gamestations?’
‘Playstations,’ Harry said.
‘Yes, them,’ Ginny said. ‘We visited Dudley the other day and he had one of those and he and Harry kept going at it all afternoon, I felt completely superfluous.’
‘He never let me play with his when we were kids,’ Harry said defensively.
Ginny laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
‘Get all the gamestations you want, if it makes you happy,’ she said.
She went over to where George had just come out of the kitchen with two filled plates, indicating that one was for her. Harry’s gaze wandered across the room. Ron was still explaining something to Audrey, presumably to do with the new television. Percy had wandered off and was now in earnest conversation with Mr Granger, of all people. Outside, in the garden, Angelina had set up Ron’s old wireless and Teddy and Victoire could be seen dancing on the lawn to an old Celestina Warbeck tune. Harry caught Fleur grimacing at the music, but Bill whispered something in her ear, at which she laughed and shushed him.
‘Oi, Harry,’ Seamus called. ‘Have you heard about the Cannons -’
Harry grinned and walked over. He could not imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
All eyes of the party were on Ron. Ron, counting down the seconds on his watch, had one hand already on the switch and was muttering furiously. The tips of his eyes were bright red. Hermione stepped up to her husband and covered his hand on the switch with her own.
‘It’s only a lamp, Ron,’ she said. ‘It’s not going to explode.’
‘Yes, but what if I do it wrong?’ Ron said.
‘There is no way to do it wrong,’ Hermione said. ‘There is just on and off.’
‘Ronald?’ Arthur said, bobbing up and down on his feet. ‘I believe it is time.’
In spite of his close friendship with the Grangers, Arthur had still not quite managed the knack of dressing like a Muggle. He had done his best on the momentuous occasion, Harry was sure, and nobody had had the heart to point out to him that he was wearing riding breeches and a tennis shirt.
‘Right,’ said Ron. ‘Yeah.’
He took a deep breath and flipped the switch on the lamp. The lightbulb flickered a bit and then glowed steadily. The assembled crowd applauded hard. Ron blushed even more and tried to take the many congratulations with good grace, protesting that he had not really done anything. Arthur raised his wand and shot some sparks in the air to get the attention of the crowd.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said and raised the champagne flute he had been inspecting with fascination earlier in the afternoon, ‘a toast!’
‘’ear, ‘ear!’ George cried.
Harry wondered if he had only imagined it or if George had glanced to his right for the split of a second when he realised no echo was coming from there. Arthur seemed to have seen it as well for he cleared his throat before he continued.
‘A toast,’ he cried, ‘to my son Ron, the first Weasley to have electricity!’
‘Trust dad,’ Ginny muttered in Harry’s ear and he grinned.
He let his eyes wander around the cheering crowd. There were Mr and Mrs Granger – Matthew and Christine, he corrected himself – looking slightly amused at the excitement the simple lamp from IKEA had produced. There was Percy, still clutching the present he had brought. It was of course a book, Approaching Muggle Technologies: A Guide To Alternative Lifestyles. Harry guessed that Percy was sceptical of his brother’s new enterprise, but trying his best to be supportive. Molly Weasley was now closely observing her husband, who in turn eyed the lamp with unabated fascination.
‘Amazing,’ he muttered.
‘Don’t touch it, Arthur,’ Molly said. ‘You don’t want to destroy it.’
‘It’s quite safe to touch, Molly,’ Hermione said. ‘As long as you stay away from the bulb, because that is hot.’
‘The bulb?’ Arthur repeated and looked at the foot of the lamp, as if expecting it to have grown from a bulb.
‘The light bulb,’ Hermione explained. ‘The coil inside is metal, and when it is heated, it glows.’
‘Fascinating,’ Arthur said once more.
‘Are you not afraid it’s going to go haywire?’ Dean asked. ‘I always thought electricity didn’t work with too much magic around. I remember I once brought a walkman to Hogwarts with me and it fried the first day.’
‘Well, we did worry about that,’ Hermione said. ‘But we figured that with so many families these days being half-and-half, there had to be some way around it. We asked around and it appears that if you protect the wires and cables really well, it works. At least we hope it will.’
‘What’re you going to use it for?’ Neville asked.
‘A computer, mainly,’ Hermione said. ‘We’re getting internet connection next week. All my family are online now and always want to send me e-mails, and I really want to keep in touch more with them.’
Arthur, very knowledgeable after having learnt about the internet from the Grangers before, could now be heard to explain it to Mrs Longbottom.
‘I believe it uses some sort of Morse code,’ he said. ‘But more advanced, I think. It can send signals all over the world, in a second. Hermione said it’s a bit like Floo, but you don’t need a fireplace, only a teflon connection.’
‘And Ron’s really in love with my parents’ telly,’ Hermione continued, ‘so I believe we’re going to get one of those soon.’
Sure enough, at the other end of the room, Ron could be seen indicating to Percy and Audrey where exactly he wanted to place the television. The conversation around Harry and Hermione abated for a moment and the words ‘blue box, you see, like the phone-boxes muggles have’ could be heard from across the room.
‘He’s really into Doctor Who,’ Hermione said. ‘Personally, I want a microwave. I’m so sick of trying to cook with magic and failing, and Ron’s no better.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Dean said. ‘It’s all great if you’ve your own house-elf, like the Saviour of Wizardkind here, or if your wife runs a pub, but I wouldn’t get rid of my mum’s microwave for anything.’
Harry could feel the heat creeping into his face; it was simply no good to tell his friends not to call him that.
‘So I expect you’re going to get hooked up soon too?’ Neville asked Harry and Ginny.
‘Well, I don’t know,’ Ginny said. ‘Harry keeps suggesting it, but I’m just not sure.’
She cradled her slightly rounded belly.
‘I mean, Hermione keeps telling me it’s safe, but I really don’t know, all those wires in the house, it’s got to be dangerous,’ she said. ‘Besides, all Harry really wants to have it for is one of those – what are they called, Harry? Gamestations?’
‘Playstations,’ Harry said.
‘Yes, them,’ Ginny said. ‘We visited Dudley the other day and he had one of those and he and Harry kept going at it all afternoon, I felt completely superfluous.’
‘He never let me play with his when we were kids,’ Harry said defensively.
Ginny laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
‘Get all the gamestations you want, if it makes you happy,’ she said.
She went over to where George had just come out of the kitchen with two filled plates, indicating that one was for her. Harry’s gaze wandered across the room. Ron was still explaining something to Audrey, presumably to do with the new television. Percy had wandered off and was now in earnest conversation with Mr Granger, of all people. Outside, in the garden, Angelina had set up Ron’s old wireless and Teddy and Victoire could be seen dancing on the lawn to an old Celestina Warbeck tune. Harry caught Fleur grimacing at the music, but Bill whispered something in her ear, at which she laughed and shushed him.
‘Oi, Harry,’ Seamus called. ‘Have you heard about the Cannons -’
Harry grinned and walked over. He could not imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.