Fred and George and the Toilers of Trouble (Year 1) ✔

Chapter 3:2

The Weasleys never knew precisely which fireplace they would land into on Diagon Alley.  Sometimes, when there was a high volume of families using the Floo Network, they'd be sent to who-knows-where, which meant roaming the shops until they reached a place better suited for Hogwarts students.  At least they usually arrived together.  To avoid any young ones getting lost, it was ensured by the Ministry of Magic's Teleportational Committee that the members of each group would arrive at the same destination and in safe conditions.  So, naturally, parents went away with bruised elbows and incoming students were often misplaced for hours.

Mrs. Weasley was the last to walk past the hearthstones at the bookstore and, though coughing slightly in the floating Floo powder, she was reassured by the sight of her sixth year, Charlie, wrangling the twins and hailing down their wandering father.

"Certainly feels odd without Bill," said Arthur with a shuffle.

"But now you'll have us out of the house for good," George rebounded, catching a sigh of relief from his mother.

"Unless we get expelled, of course."

"Fine point, Fred."

"Thank you, George."

"Well, you do make the finest points."

"Everything in order, then?  Are the Weasleys ready for a new year?" Mr. Weasley asked, brushing a bit of soot from Percy's bright red hair.

"Brimming with joy, Father.  Absolutely brimming," he responded quickly, while perfecting his hairstyle. 

It was widely known that any student with flaming red hair was most likely from the Weasley family.  There were so many of them, and they all had red hair, even Ginny.  For that reason, they stood out more than any of the wizarding families at Flourish and Blotts that afternoon.  And, like every year prior, the store was crowded with old and new students searching breathlessly for some book of spells that would rattle back and forth or attempt to slice at prying fingers with a nimble paper cut.  Regrettably, the twins could only afford to bring one book per course.  And it had to be of the non-finger-slicing variety.

Their parents had very little money, which was also widely known, and not a detail any student would be proud to share.  The boys were told straight away that, because there were two of them enrolling at Hogwarts in the same year, they would have to share nearly everything.  While most of the first-year students were on Diagon Alley that day to collect all the items on their supply lists, like their friend Cedric Diggory the week earlier, Fred and George Weasley had really only come for their brothers.  Sadly, the twins were almost completely prepared for school, because their mother had been crossing things off their lists from home. 

For the all-important school trunks, she found two hand-me-downers in the attic, one of which was almost rotted through, while the other had been a sort of bedroom for the crafty ghoul they had yet to exterminate.  When it came to Astronomy class, she built them a homemade telescope, constructed of Muggle artifacts their father had been hiding in the shed behind the house, using such confusing items as a magnifying glass, a soda bottle, a bent pair of women's tortoise shell sunglasses, and an actual tortoise shell.  Instead of saving for the costlier dragon-hide protective gloves, she mended an ancient pair of badger skin mittens for the boys to share, which had formerly been used for scrubbing pots and smelled of perfumed soap.  At the least, they could be relieved to know that their wands had been sorted. 

Anything their mother could not check off the list had to be picked up on Diagon Alley that afternoon.  But not at full price, mind you.  With help from other underprivileged wizarding families, Molly scrounged up the names of shops that may have second-hand robes, hats, cloaks, and quills to donate.  Most of these unfortunate things were manageable for the boys, but nothing could prepare them for the news that they had been signed up for Enchantments, instead of the more popular, Charms.  The only reason, of course, was that Enchantments did not require a book.  If there was ever an indicator to other students that you were from a poor family, it was arriving to Hogwarts Castle without the required reading for Charms class in hand.  As it turned out, this didn't bother the twins that afternoon.  They were too busy flipping through a massive book entitled, Adventures and Misadventures Using Boycotted Spells in Highly Magical Areas and How to Invoke Them by Beauregard Bergsfiend.