Bella and the Chamber (Book Two)

Chapter Four

Living at The Burrow was more fun than I ever expected it to be. Living with Charlie and Renee, it was boring and quiet. The Weasley house was far from that, it burst with the strange and unexpected. I remember one day, I was in the living room reading the first book of the 'Night World' series, when Harry looked in the mirror over the mantelpiece and it shouted 'Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!' making him almost jump out of his skin and making me snap my head up from my book laughing. 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 normal, but it still gave me a heart attack when I walked past their room and heard a loud 'BANG'. Harry thought it was strange here too, but it was even more strange for him because he wasn't used to people liking him, and here at The Burrow, everyone liked him. 

Some more than others. 

*cough Ginny cough*

Molly fussed over the state of Harry's socks and tried to force him to eat fourth helpings at every meal. She did that with me too, but not as much. After all, Harry is the one who had been mistreated, not me. I just had fake parents. Mr Weasley liked Harry to sit next to him at the dinner table, and since I sat next to Harry, I heard what they were talking about. He would bombard me and Harry with questions about life with Muggles, asking us to explain to him how things like plugs and the postal service worked. 

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

We heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after we arrived at The Burrow. Me, Ron, and Harry went down to breakfast to find Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table. The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter making me glare at her. Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room. Attention seeking I called it. She dived under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. Pretending we hadn't noticed this, Me and Harry sat next to each other and took the toast that was offered to us.

"Letters from school," Mr Weasley said, passing us identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you and Bella are here Harry - doesn't miss a tick, that man. You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pyjamas. 

For a few minutes, there was a silence as we all read our letters. Mine told me 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 I'd be needing 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 mine.