𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝

- 𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝘀 -

Life at The Burrow was as different as possible from life in Magnolia Crescent. The Lewis's liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. Lucia 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 Lucia 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 her.

Mrs Weasley fussed over the state of her socks and tried to force her to eat fourth helpings at every meal. Mr Weasley liked Lucia to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard her with questions about life with Muggles, asking her to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked.

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

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

"Letters from school", said Mr Weasley, passing Lucia and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Lucia — 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. Lucia's told her to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September the first. There was also a list of the new books she'd 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 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙑𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝗯𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁
𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝗯𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁
𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙚𝙩𝙞 𝗯𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁

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

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defence 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..."