‘Hi, Percy,’ said Harry.
‘Oh, hello, Harry,’ said Percy. ‘I was wondering who was making all the noise. I’m trying to work in here, you know – I’ve got a report to finish for the office – and it’s rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs.’
‘We’re not thundering,’ said Ron irritably. ‘We’re walking. Sorry if we’ve disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic.’
‘What are you working on?’ said Harry.
‘A report for the Department of International Magical Co-operation,’ said Percy smugly. ‘We’re trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin – leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three per cent a year –’
‘That’ll change the world, that report will,’ said Ron. ‘Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks.’
Percy went slightly pink.
‘You might sneer, Ron,’ he said heatedly, ‘but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products which seriously endanger –’
‘Yeah, yeah, all right,’ said Ron, and he started off upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter Five, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes
‘Oh, hello, Harry,’ said Percy. ‘I was wondering who was making all the noise. I’m trying to work in here, you know – I’ve got a report to finish for the office – and it’s rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs.’
‘We’re not thundering,’ said Ron irritably. ‘We’re walking. Sorry if we’ve disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic.’
‘What are you working on?’ said Harry.
‘A report for the Department of International Magical Co-operation,’ said Percy smugly. ‘We’re trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin – leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three per cent a year –’
‘That’ll change the world, that report will,’ said Ron. ‘Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks.’
Percy went slightly pink.
‘You might sneer, Ron,’ he said heatedly, ‘but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products which seriously endanger –’
‘Yeah, yeah, all right,’ said Ron, and he started off upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter Five, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes
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Happy Birthday Percy Weasley! The author of Prefects Who Gained Power* will surely have added Percy to their latest edition - his career has gone from strength to strength since his time at Hogwarts; rising, as we are informed by Rita Skeeter, to Head of the Department of Magical Transportation in recent years.
We love Percy’s fastidiousness and pompousness throughout the Harry Potter series, even if it does mean he now gets called a ‘nit-picking bureaucrat’ by some of his political opponents, but we bet he’s a difficult person to buy a present for!
What do you think Percy’s perfect birthday present would be? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter using #HappyBirthdayPercyWeasley, and share your birthday wishes!
*A deeply boring study of Hogwarts Prefects and their later careers.