Harry Potter's Twin Sister

A Trip To Diagon Alley

"Well, you see, Mr Weasley," said Hazel, "Muggles have no real use for rubber duckies, they're just there to float in the bath water."

"Fascinating," he said.

"I know, but you should see some of the other stuff they keep in their houses. My cousin's room is filled with all sorts of useless, fascinating things."

"Hey, maybe you should raid a Muggle house, Dad," said Fred over his breakfast.

Mr Weasley looked like he was seriously considering it, but one sharp glare from Mrs Weasley and he said, "Oh, no, I would never..."

Hazel then went on to describe the concept of 'movies' (moving pictures that actually told a story by constantly changing the people and places). Pretty soon she had fully convinced Mr Weasley that he, too, should take a visit to his local Muggle movie theatre. A loud object flew into the kitchen window, disrupting their conversation, and Ron went outside to pick up what looked like a feather duster, only it was alive!

"Oh good, Errol's brought the post," he said, and he removed the letter from Errol's claws. "Hermione's written back—she says she's going into town next week, and... she says she hopes Harry and Hazel are alright."

Another owl arrived at the Burrow just then, only this one managed to not knock itself out. It was the school owl, and everyone opened their letters, including Harry and Hazel. Somehow, Dumbledore had managed to figure out that they were no longer staying with the Dursley's.

"Blimey, that's a lot of books by Gilderoy Lockhart," said Ron.

"I bet the teacher's a big fan of his; must be a witch," said Fred. Mrs Weasley gave him a sharp look and he promptly shut up.

"This's gonna cost quite a lot, won't it, Mum? His books don't come cheap," said George.

"Oh, we'll manage," said Mrs Weasley, but she didn't look so sure. "We could probably get a lot of Ginny's things second hand, that'll save some money."

Harry and Hazel shared a quick look, both feeling a bit guilty, knowing that buried somewhere in Gringotts was a small fortune, while they were busy leeching off the Weasley's— who were already struggling to make ends meet.

"When did Hermione say she would be going to Diagon Alley, exactly?" asked Mr Weasley. "Maybe we could meet her there, I'd love to get to know her parents; they're Muggles, aren't they?" Mrs Weasley gave him a pointed look, and he quickly added, "Just to make them feel welcome! Must be hard, it's quite an adjustment, I'd suspect."

And so they made all the arrangements. Ron sent a letter back to Hermione, telling her where and when exactly to meet, and all the children were instructed to compile a list of things that needed to be done before the school year started; sewing; mending; gluing; trimming. The boys were all given quick haircuts, their protests falling on deaf ears as Mrs Weasley quickly snipped and clipped. Harry's hair almost immediately grew back to its usual scruffiness, much to the irritation of Ron, who complained that his new haircut made his ears stick out.

"They've always stuck out," teased Hazel, "you just usually have hair that sticks out more."

On the day that they were supposed to meet Hermione in front of Gringotts, Harry managed to go and get himself lost, and Mrs Weasley became more and more frantic as she ordered the rest of the Weasley clan to go searching high and low for him. Hazel wasn't too worried; she could usually feel it in her gut if Harry was in some sort of real trouble, and right then she didn't feel anything. 

Sure enough, Hagrid came marching out of some side alley with his hand protectively on Harry. Apparently, he had flooed into some dingy furniture shop in Knock Turn Alley, and the four first—sorry, second—years managed to separate from the group.