Effervescence | h.p.

ii | iii. departure from the burrow

The Weasley house was different than the Lupin-Black cottage, that was for sure. The Burrow was always offering up unexpected surprises, especially when Lyra found herself with the Weasley boys. Lyra had also found herself growing closer to Ron's younger sister, Ginny, the more time she spent at the Burrow.

"Are the roommates all right?" said Ginny, curious about her future dorm situation for when she would arrive at Hogwarts.

"I mean, some of my roommates are just there for me and I don't really talk to them much," said Lyra. "But that is where I met Hermione, who's one of my best friends."

"You're my best friend!" Ginny announced before rushing forward to embrace Lyra, who was just barely taller than the younger girl.

"Don't tell Harry, Hermione, or Ron, because they'll be upset," said Lyra, "but you're my best friend, too, Gin."

Lyra received word from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after she had arrived at the Burrow. She went down early with Ginny to sit with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley at the kitchen table. Mr. Weasley always had Lyra sat down next to him because of her knowledge of muggle's and muggle things, having her explain things like plugs and the postal service.

"Letters from the school," said Mr. Weasley as he passed Lyra and Ginny envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressing Lyra in green ink and Ginny in red. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Lyra — doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas. Ron dragged himself into the kitchen in the same attire.

Reading her letter, Lyra figured she should probably talk to her fathers at some point to make up after their short silence. Her fathers had yet to send anything to her, so she waited. Now that the school year was quickly approaching as well as the full moon, Lyra needed to make it up to her dads, but she pettily refused to write first because she would be admitting defeat. Before she could leave, though, she had to remember what books and supplies she needed.

𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐑𝐄:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

Fred, who finished his own list, peered over at Lyra's.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan — bet it's a witch."

At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade.

"That lot won't come cheap," said George with a quick look at his parents. "Lockhart's books are really expensive. . . . "

"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

Percy Weasley walking in ended this conversation, walking in already dressed with his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest.

"Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."

He sat down on the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a molting, gray feather duster — at least, that's what it looked like, until Lyra noticed it was breathing.

"Errol," said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally — he's got Hermione's answer. I told her we were going to rescue you if neither of us heard from you soon."