The Forgotten Twin

Chapter 4

Life at the Burrow was the opposite of life on Privet Drive. While the Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. Delilah was shocked the first time she looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, "Fix your hair, scruffy!" There was a ghoul in the attic that 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. The strangest thing at the Weasley's, however, was the fact that everyone there actually wanted Harry and Delilah around.

Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of their socks and made them eat fourth helpings at every meal. Mr. Weasley liked Harry and Delilah to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard them with questions about life with Muggles, asking them to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked. It was all very interesting to see how little Wizards actually knew about Muggles. Mr. Weasley thought it was fascinating how many ways Muggles had found to get along without magic.

On one sunny morning about a week after Delilah and Harry had arrived at the Burrow, they heard from Hogwarts. Delilah and Ginny were sitting at the kitchen table with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley when Harry and Ronald had walked in, causing Ginny to accidentally knock her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. Ginny was very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room. She dove under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face as red as a setting sun.

"Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing everyone the identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry, Delilah — 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. Delilah's letter told her to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September 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 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 Delilah's.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts(DADA) 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...."

"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny.

She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. Fortunately, only Delilah and Harry saw this because the third oldest Weasley brother, Percy, walked in. He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest.