Miranda Black and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 1 - The Burrow

Following Ginny out of the car, I was met with a tall, leaning, old house that looked like chicken houses stacked on top of each other. Even so, it looked amazing. Much better than the old orphanage. The twins offered to take my bags, so Ginny led me away and into the house. A pleasant aroma of tomato soup hit me as I walked in, and I immediately felt at home, despite not knowing what anything was in the kitchen - a clock without numbers, funny shaped plants, a radio announcing a singer I'd never heard of...

Ginny was going red. "It's not much, I know, it's a mess.."

"It's brilliant!"

My new friend grinned, grabbing my hand to lead me upstairs to my new room. "This is my room here, and you'll be next to me. It's my older brother Charlie's room, I hope you don't mind. He's in Romania studying dragons so it's all yours,"

I stepped inside, marvelling at the posters on the wall - dragons, creatures I didn't recognise, and photos of people in orange robes, holding broomsticks. Strangest of all, they were all moving as if alive.

"Muggle pictures stay still, don't they?" I nodded, "Weird. That's the Chudley Cannons. Charlie quite liked them, but Ron is obsessed with them. His whole room is orange. They're Quidditch players, of course,"

"Quidditch?" I asked curiously, moving to open the curtains.

"I have so much to tell you! Quidditch is a wizarding game played on broomsticks. There's 7 players - a Keeper, 3 Chasers, 2 Beaters and a Seeker. The Keeper guards three hoops that the Chasers are trying to throw the Quaffle through. The Beaters carry bats and they knock flying balls called Bludgers at the opposing team. The Seeker is the most important player because to win the game, the Seeker has to find a flying golden ball called the Snitch," Ginny explained in a rush.

"I don't understand anything you just said, but that's okay - we have a whole month until school starts!" I said. Ginny laughed and sat down next to me, staring out at her backyard. "Hey Ginny, do you know why I'm here with you?"

Ginny looked at me in surprise and shrugged, "Not really, sorry. I know dad overheard the Minister for Magic talking about you with Dumbeldore, and he offered to take you in. Dad works at the Ministry...it's probably just temporary,"

"Temporary? You think so?" I said, feeling hurt.

"I hope not. I think Mom's glad to have another girl in the house, and it's not like we don't have any room now that Charlie and Bill have both moved out. I'm glad you're here too. I've always wanted a sister," Ginny said, placing her hand on mine. Tears began to well in my eyes and I went to reply, being interrupted by the appearance of Fred and George and my belongings.

The rest of the day and the next were spent getting settled in, which involved moving a few things out of Charlie's room and into the attic, meeting the house poltergeist, discovering Molly's crush on an author named Gilderoy Lockhart, learning more about Quidditch, and being taught how to throw gnomes over the fence.

On July 31st, I learned about another wizard, one of Ron's friends.

"It's Harry's birthday today. I'm worried about him, it's weird that he hasn't responded to any of my letters. I definitely thought he'd like the one about what Fred did to Percy the other day...I just hope he's okay and that he gets my card," Ron said as he sat down at the table for breakfast.

"Who's Harry?" I asked. Ginny immediately started turning a shade of red, looking down at her bowl.

"He's my best friend, along with a girl called Hermione. He's a pretty big deal...you see, there was once this wizard who turned bad, really bad. We don't say his name. You-Know-Who was defeated 11 years ago, not by a fully trained wizard - but by Harry! Harry's parents were killed and the house was destroyed. No one knows how Harry survived. But he did, and You-Know-Who disappeared. Harry got sent to live with his aunt and uncle - with Muggles! He didn't even know who he was until last year. He beat You-Know-Who again just a few weeks ago. I helped, of course," Ron explained while helping himself to a steaming bowl of porridge.