Mystique → Hermione Granger [2] ✔

I 03 I Troublesome Pests

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Not one of the best chapters I've done in my opinion. 

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Life at the Burrow was certainly entertaining. It was much more crowded and chaotic than Alexander was used to. Usually, it would just be him and Eliot at home with Grandfather at work, but here with the rowdiness, there was never a dull moment. Not when the Weasleys' house flowed with the strange and unexpected.

Mrs Weasley, Alexander discovered, was a fusser – she liked to fret over the children over everything, which was nice to experience as Grandfather had never done that before. Mr Weasley was fascinated with anything muggle and would constantly bombard Harry and Alexander with questions about ordinary Muggle objects and systems.

After a week of being at the Burrow, Alexander received his letter from Hogwarts on a sun-drenched morning. He was already at the breakfast table, before Ron and Harry woke up, much to Mrs Weasley's shock, who worried that he wasn't getting enough sleep. He usually was the third person in the house to wake up, the others being Mr and Mrs Weasley, of course.

Ginny traipsed into the kitchen and sat on the table, giving him a sluggish little wave when she recognised him. The youngest Weasley was quiet but seemed nice enough. When Harry and Ron trudged in, yawning and bleary-eyed, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor when her gaze fell on Harry. The bowl fell with a loud clatter, and Alexander peered up, startled, as he chewed his toast. Ron hadn't even noticed, as the minute Mrs Weasley placed a plate of food on the table, his focus was cut off from anything that wasn't sausages and hash browns. Harry hardly batted an eyelash and smiled when Mrs Weasley offered him a plate. Ginny dived under the table to retrieve the bowl then emerged with a face as red as strawberries in May. Shrugging, Alexander turned to greet the two boys who mumbled back, Harry a tad clearer than Ron.

'Letters from school,' said Mr Weasley.

He passed the three boys identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. Alexander's heart still leapt at the familiar sight of the envelope. The letter in his hand was the same as it had been last year except that the location was addressed to the Burrow.

'Dumbledore already knows you're here – doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got them, too,' Mr Weasley added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pyjamas.

Alexander addressed Ron in a questioning tone, with Harry close enough to hear. 'Is Professor Dumbledore the one who writes everyone's letter?'

Ron frowned thoughtfully, then shook his head. 'No, I don't think so. I mean, that's too many people for one wizard. But I've never really thought about it, to be honest. Why?'

'Oh, I just thought that's probably how he knows Harry and I are here.'

'Who knows,' shrugged Harry, 'it's Dumbledore, after all.'