The War Hammer of Hogwarts - Harry Potter

The Burrow (Part 2)

The Burrow is awesome.  Just about every part of the house burst with the strange and unexpected.  Harry got a shock the first time he looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it screamed at him.

Mirror: Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!

YN: Pfft...

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 Harry seemed to find most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul.  It was the fact that everybody there enjoyed having him around.  Mrs Weasley fussed over the state of his socks and tried to force him to eat fourth helpings at every meal.  Mr Weasley liked Harry to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard him with questions about life with Muggles, asking him to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked.  He was probably the most fascinated when Harry talked him through using a telephone.

Arthur: Ingenious, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic.

We heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after Harry had arrived at The Burrow.  He, Ron, Falco, and I went down to breakfast to find Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table.

Falco: Morning, Ginny.

Ginny: Good morni-

The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter.  Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room, which the twins and I found hilarious.  She dove under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun.  Harry sat down and took the toast Mrs Weasley offered him.

Arthur: Letters from school!

He passed Harry, Ron, Falco, and I identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink.

Arthur: Dumbledore already knows you three are, Harry, YN, Falco.  Doesn't miss a trick, that man.

Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas.  For a few minutes there was silence as we all read our letters.  They told us 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 we'd need for the coming year.  And all of them were written by... him.  Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at mine.

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

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

YN: Falco, did you and Ginny get all of Lockhart's books too?

Falco: Yep... ugh.

George: That lot won't come cheap.  Lockhart's books are really expensive...

Molly: Well, we'll manage.

She looked worried.

Molly: I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand.

YN: Mrs Weasley, I'll pay for all of their books.  It's no trouble, really.

Mrs Weasley looked shocked.

Molly: Dear, I could never ask something like that of you!

YN: You don't have to, my family's got plenty of money to spare.  Please, it's thanks for letting Falco and I stay here these past two months.

Molly: Alright, I suppose... but only the books!  I won't let you pay for everything.

I smiled, nodding.

Harry: Ginny, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?

She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish.  I leaned over to Fred and George.

YN: Young love, how sweet.

They both grinned.  Just then Ron's elder brother Percy walked in.  He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his knitted tank top.

Percy: Morning, all.  Lovely day.

He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a grey feather duster.  At least, that was what I thought it was, until I saw that it was breathing.

Ron: Errol!

Ron took the limp owl from Percy and pulled a letter from under its wing.

Ron: Finally, he's got Hermione's answer.  I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys.

He carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron laid him on the draining board instead.  Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read it out loud.

Ron: Dear Ron, YN, and Harry if you're there.  I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble, too.  I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl, because I think another delivery might finish your one off.  I'm very busy with school work, of course."

Ron looked up at us, horrified.

Ron: How can she be?  We're on holiday!

YN: It's Hermione, Ron.  Just read the letter.

Ron: "We're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books.  Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?  Let me know what's happening as soon as you can, love from Hermione."

Molly: Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too.

Falco: Ron, I'll respond.  Athena will get there and back by the end of the day, and probably won't kill herself to do it.

Falco ran to get his barn owl, Athena.  She was a birthday gift from my parents and I.  Later, Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Falco, and I went up the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned.  It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of the village below, meaning that we could practice Quidditch there, as long as we didn't fly too high.  We also couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village.  Instead we threw apples for each other to catch.  We took turns to ride Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand and my Thunderbolt VII, which were easily the best brooms.  Ron's old Shooting Star was often beaten by passing butterflies.  As we were walking back down the hill, George turned to us.

George: Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year.  Five sets of Lockhart books!  And Ginny needs robes and a wand and everything...

YN: I told your mom I'd help.  My family's got loads of money, I told her I'd pay for all the books.

Fred and George both pounded me on the back, while Ron grinned at me.

Ron: I'm surprised she'd let you spend a single knut.

YN: Well, if she had said know, I would've happened to show up with six sets of books instead of one.  What was she gonna do make me throw it out?