𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝

- 𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁 -

The next day, however, Lucia barely grinned once. Things started to go downhill from breakfast in the Great Hall. The four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy grey). Lucia and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, who had her copy of Voyages with Vampires propped open against a milk jug. There was a slight stiffness in the way she said "Morning" which told Lucia that she was still disapproving of the way they had arrived. Neville Longbottom, on the other hand, greeted them cheerfully. Neville was a round faced and accident prone boy with the worst memory of anyone Lucia had ever met.

"Post's due any minute — I think Gran's sending on a few things I forgot".

Lucia had only just started her porridge, when, sure enough there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the Hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. A big, lumpy parcel bounced off Neville's head, and a second later, something large and grey fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.

"Errol!" said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.

"Oh no —" Ron gasped.

"It's all right, he's still alive", said Hermione, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger.

"It's not that — it's that".

Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to Lucia, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode.

"What's the matter?" said Lucia.

"She's — she's sent me a Howler", said Ron faintly.

"You'd better open it, Ron", said Neville, in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My Gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and —" he gulped, "it was horrible".

Lucia looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope.

"What's a Howler?" she said.

But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners.

"Open it", Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes..."

Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak and slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Lucia knew why. She thought for a moment it had exploded; a roar of sound filled the huge Hall, shaking dust from the ceiling.

".... STEALING THE CAR. I WOULD'NT HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU. YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU. I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT HAD GONE..."

Mrs Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the Hall were swivelling around to see who had received the Howler and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.

"... LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND LUCIA COULD BOTH HAVE DIED..."

Lucia had been wondering when her name was going to crop up. She tried very hard to look as though she couldn't hear the voice that was making her eardrums throb.

"... ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME".