𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 → hermione granger

20: at flourish and blotts

LIFE AT THE BURROW was as different as possible from life on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. Raven got a shock the first time she looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, and small explosions from Fred and George's bedroom were considered perfectly normal. What Raven and Harry found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: It was the fact that everybody there seemed to like them.

Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of their socks and tried to force the twins to eat fourth helpings at every meal. Mr. Weasley liked Harry and Raven to sit next to them at the dinner table so that they could bombard the two with questions about life with Muggles, asking them both to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked.

"Fascinating!" he would say as Raven talked him through using a telephone. "Ingenious, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic."

Raven and Harry heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after they had arrived at the Burrow. Her, Harry, and Ron went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table. The moment she saw Raven and Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever the two entered a room. She dived under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. Pretending they hadn't noticed this, Harry and Raven sat down and took the toast Mrs. Weasley offered them.

"Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing Raven, Harry and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry—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.

For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. Raven and Harry told them to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September first. There was also a list of the new books they would need for the coming year.

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 had finished his own list, peered over at Raven'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."

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny.