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.
"Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."
He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a molting, gray feather duster — at least, that was what it looked like, until Delilah saw that it was breathing.
"Errol!" said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally — he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys."
He carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron laid him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic." Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read it out loud:
" 'Dear Ron, and Harry and Delilah if you're there,
" 'I hope everything went alright and that Harry and Delilah are okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get them out, Ron, because that would get them in trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry and Delilah are alright, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl, because I think another delivery might finish your one off.
" 'I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course' — How can she be?" said Ronald in horror. "We're on vacation! — 'and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?
" 'Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. Love from Hermione.' "
"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too," said Mrs. Weasley, starting to clear the table. "What're you all up to today?"
The guys were going to go play quidditch in a padlock.
Delilah had been invited to play but Ginny hadn't, so Delilah had decided to do something else with her. Plus, unlike Ginny, she wasn't that good of a player.
Over her time at the Burrow they had become good friends, even though Ginny somehow had a crush on Harry. Delilah had thought that no one with good sense would have a crush on him, but apparently she was wrong. Ginny was a good person.
In the end they had decided to talk about Hogwarts and the classes. Ginny was pretty excited but also very anxious. Her parents weren't very rich, and would have trouble paying for all the Lockhart books.
Delilah felt awkward, but she tried to sympathize. She had an underground vault full of a small fortune.
The following Wednesday Mrs. Weasley woke them all up. After a quick breakfast of half a dozen bacon sandwiches each, they put on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peered inside.
"We're running low, Arthur," she sighed. "We'll have to buy some more today.... Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"
And she offered him the flowerpot.
"Um, we don't know how to use Floo powder. Can someone else go first?" Delilah asked.
"You've never used it? But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"
"We went on the Underground —"
"Really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Were there escapators? How exactly —"
"Not now, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Floo powder is a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before —"
"They'll be all right, Mum," said Fred. "Watch us first."
He took a pinch of glittering powder out of the flowerpot, stepped up to the fire, and threw the powder into the flames.
With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished.
"You must speak clearly, dear" Mrs. Weasley told Harry and Delilah as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. "And be sure to get out at the right grate...."
"The right what?" said Harry nervously as the fire roared and whipped George out of sight, too.
"Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly —"
"They'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss," said Mr. Weasley, helping himself to Floo powder, too.
"But, dear, if they got lost, how would we ever explain it to their aunt and uncle?"
"Don't worry, they wouldn't mind," Delilah reassured them, keeping the bitterness out of her voice.
"Yeah, Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't worry about that —"
"Well... all right... Harry, you go after Arthur and then you can go to Delilah," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going —"
"And keep your elbows tucked in," Ron advised.
"And your eyes shut," said Mrs. Weasley. "The soot —"
"Don't fidget," said Ron. "Or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace —"
"But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred and George."
Harry grabbed a pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire. He scattered the powder into the fire and stepped forward.
He opened his mouth and coughed, "D-Dia-gon Alley."
Harry whipped out of sight and it was Delilah's turn.
She grabbed a pinch powder and scattered it over the fire and stepped in. It felt like a pleasant warm breeze.
"Diagon Alley!"
It felt as though she was being sucked down a giant drain. She seemed to be spinning very fast and the roaring was deafening. She remembered Mrs. Weasley's advice and closed her eyes. She wished it would stop, and then —
She stumbled out of the fireplace, coughing and Fred stopped her from falling onto her face.
Delilah wiped the soot off her face and looked around for Harry.
"Where's Harry?" she asked as Ron came through and after a few seconds Ginny followed by Mrs. Weasley.
"Where's Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked, repeating Delilah's question.
Fred shrugged. "Must have come out the wrong chimney, let's go look for him."
They all split up into groups and went to search for Harry. Delilah was with Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Fred and George while Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went to get some of their things at the same time.
He was nowhere. Delilah was starting to get worried. Finally, after a while, they spotted Harry talking to Hagrid and Hermione and sprinted up the crowd to them.
"Harry," Mr. Weasley panted. "We hoped you'd gone only one grate too far...." He mopped his glistening bald patch. "Molly's frantic — she's coming now —"
"Where did you come out?" Delilah asked.
"Knockturn Alley," said Hagrid grimly.
"Excellent!" said Fred and George together.
"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously.
"I should ruddy well think not," growled Hagrid. Mrs. Weasley came galloping into view, her handbag swinging wildly in one hand, Ginny clinging onto the other.
"Oh, Harry — oh, my dear — you could have been anywhere —"
She brushed the soot off his head. Mr. Weasley grabbed Harry's glasses and fixed them with his Reparo. It really was a helpful spell.
"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him, Hagrid!"). "See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.
"Guess who I saw at Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked Ron, Hermione, and Delilah as they climbed the stairs to Gringotts. "Malfoy and his father."
"What were they doing there?" Delilah asked. Mr. Malfoy had seemed intense when they'd met him at Kings' Cross, but he cared enough about his ego to make sure to never go there, or be seen at least.
"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" Mr. Weasley sharply asked from behind them.
"No, he was selling —"
"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something..."
"You be careful, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley sharply. as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew —"
Actually the Malfoy's were nice, at least Draco was, once you got to know him.
"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr. Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.
"But you're Muggles!" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten pound notes in Mr. Granger's hand.
They all headed to their separate vaults. When they reached the Potter vault Delilah felt self-conscious. The Weasley's vault only had a few small piles of silver Sickles inside and a single gold Galleon while Harry and Delilah's vault was full of Galleons.
Back outside on the marble steps, everyone separated. Percy muttered about needing a new quill, Fred and George went off with their friend Lee Jordan, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were going to a secondhand robe shop, Mr. Weasley insisted on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off to buy their things.
They all decided to meet back at Flourish and Blotts in an hour.
Luckily, Delilah spotted Daphne and a girl who looked like her little sister walking around.
Delilah walked over to them.
"Hey Daphne! Whose this?"
"This is my little sister, Astoria, she's starting at Hogwarts this year," Daphne explained.
"Oh, that's cool. Is there a specific house you want?"
"Um, I don't really care. It'd be nice to be in Slytherin so I know someone, but I'd be fine with any house really," Astoria answered.
"That's smart, do you guys mind if I join you?"
Luckily they were fine with it and let her tag along. Together they grabbed all of their needed supplies, and some ice creams.
After an hour they headed to Flourish and Blotts together.
The shop was crowded. Everyone seemed to be jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. When they finally reached the door the reason became clear.
Apparently Gilderoy Lockhart was doing some signings that day.
Daphne looked excited, but Delilah didn't get it.
"Why's everyone so excited? He's just an author," Delilah asked.
"He wrote about all his adventures. He's fought off werewolves and vampires and every dark creature you can think of. He's also won Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award five times, and he's just so handsome," Daphne explained.
Delilah personally didn't think anyone who won that contest could have fought off a werewolf or vampire, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe.
She wasn't. After they grabbed their books they said goodbye and headed to their separate groups.
The Weasleys and Grangers were standing in the middle of the line.
Delilah snuck over to them just as Gilderoy Lockhart came into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes the exact forget-me-not-blue of his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.
A short irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photos with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.
"Well, Lockhart seems stuck-up," Delilah told Harry. He turned around and grinned at Delilah.
"Seems about right." They grinned at each other.
Sadly, Lockhart had heard them.
He looked up. He saw Delilah — and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?"
The crowd parted and Delilah pushed Harry into Lockhart's outstretched hand. He pulled Harry to the front and the crowd burst into applause.
Delilah laughed as Harry's face burned and Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, waving thick smoke over the Weasleys.
Lockhart said something to Harry that made him grimace.
Harry tried to make his way back to her but Lockhart threw an arm around his shoulders and clamped him tightly to his side.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. Delilah tried to hold her laughter in but mostly failed. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!
"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography — which I shall be happy to present to him now, free of charge —" The crowd applauded again. "He had no idea," Lockhart continued, shaking Harry, making his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The crowd cheered while Delilah groaned, having to deal with him chatting away now was enough of 'Magical Lockhart', let alone a whole year of it.
Harry, who had gotten the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart, made his way back to them and gave Ginny the books, which was nice of him.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Draco said from behind them.
"Oh yes Draco, Harry's face was priceless, but I'm not excited to have that idiot teaching," Delilah intervened.
Draco turned to her and grinned. "Hey Delilah, what are you doing with this filth?" He gestured to the Weasleys.
"Actually they are nicer than some pure bloods I've met, and they took care of Harry and me during the summer. So don't say that crap about them."
Harry and Ginny looked at Delilah in shock. So did Draco, before he grinned.
"Alright, but I better see you on the train."
Delilah did a mock sigh. "Fine, I won't use the invisibility charm I've been studying."
She had actually studied it during the period she and Harry had been locked in the room. Delilah was confident that with a few attempts could cast and undo it.
Mr. Weasley came over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded here, let's go outside."
"Well, well, well — Arthur Weasley."
It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering.
"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy or A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraced the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.
"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley... and I thought your family could sink no lower —"
There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their heads; there was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred and George; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!" the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over; "Gentlemen, please — please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all —
"Break it up, there, gents, break it up —"
Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstool. He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.
"Here, girl — take your book — it's the best your father can give you —" Something seemed different with it though, but Delilah couldn't tell what.
Mr. Malfoy pulled himself out of Hagrid's grip and beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.
Draco gave her a small wave before leaving.
In Delilah's moment of distraction Hagrid had something to Mr. Weasley who nodded as he stood up and straightened his robes.
The assistant looked like he wanted to stop them leaving but thought better of it.
Mrs. Weasley was furious.
"A fine example to set for your children... brawling in public... what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought —"
"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report — said it was all publicity —"
Just before they left the Leaky Cauldron by Floo powder Delilah turned to Harry.
"Bet you're pleased." He looked at her in confusion. "You're not going to be on the front page anymore."
Harry almost burst out laughing but held it in.
Delilah grabbed some Floo powder and traveled to the Burrow.