The Survivor

At Flourish and Blotts

Life at The Burrow was as different as possible from life in Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' 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 shouted, 'Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!' 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 found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: it was the fact that everybody there seemed to like him.

Most of those in the Hall gave Harry and Violet pitying looks and glared at Petunia and Dudley.

"Mind your business and keep your glares to yourselves. My family is none of your concern." Violet addressed them coldly. She didn't appreciate them concerning about her family problems.

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. '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.'

The Weasley children and Violet smiled kindly at Arthur who was blushing, a little embarrassed with his reaction to Muggle inventions and life.

Harry heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after he had arrived at The Burrow. He and Ron 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. Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room. She dived under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun.

Her friends gave Ginny encouraging pats on the back or smiles. They remembered that time in her life when Harry was the centre of her attention when she wasn't 'occupied'. They made sure to not mention that year too much when they were around her and they already shared a confirming look as they silently agreed to comfort her as the year progressed. They stood with their own.

Pretending he hadn't noticed this, Harry sat down and took the toast Mrs Weasley offered him. 'Letters from school,' said Mr Weasley, passing Harry and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. 'Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry – 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. Harry's told him 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 he'd need for the coming year.

Second-year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
A long history of Medieval British Wizarding World by David Goshawk
Potions for beginners, Grade 2 by Robert Ladher
Common plants and poisons by Griselda Brown
Transfiguration and its roots by Lily Verlag
A journey through the stars by Amelie Purple
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