It had been a week since they had flown the turquoise Ford Anglia across England, which meant Harry Potter had already been living at The Burrow for a week.
Everyone here warmly welcomed Harry's arrival. Mrs. Weasley would darn his socks and heap food onto his plate; Mr. Weasley always had countless questions about Muggles, and now those questions were all directed at Harry; shy Ginny would always blush or knock something over whenever she spoke to Harry.
Percy stayed in his room most of the time, doing who-knows-what, and only came out for meals. From Fred and George's room, explosions could be heard from time to time, and the twins often dragged Harry and Ron off to the paddock behind the hill to play Quidditch.
As for Eda, she was busy with work from early morning until late at night. Harry had already heard from Ron about her situation. Compared to everyone else, Eda was the one who had known Harry the longest, yet the one who had spent the least time with him.
That morning, the weather was bright and sunny when a Hogwarts owl appeared at The Burrow, bringing the new school supply lists. Harry's letter had arrived as well, along with Ginny's acceptance letter.
This year's letter seemed longer than in past years. Eda tore hers open and read it carefully. As she read, her brows furrowed—what was with that long list of Gilderoy Lockhart's works?
Fred finished looking over his own list, then craned his neck to glance at Harry's, and then at Ginny's.
He said, "We all have to buy Gilderoy Lockhart's books. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan of his—probably a witch, I bet."
Mrs. Weasley shot her son a sharp look, and Fred quickly lowered his head, avoiding her eyes.
"It'll boost Lockhart's book sales, but it'll ruin his reputation," Eda said. "I really don't know what this new professor is thinking."
Forcing students to buy Gilderoy Lockhart's books was downright brainless. Forced recommendations often just made people feel annoyed or disgusted. No matter what others thought, shoving your personal favorites onto someone else—could someone who did that really be fit to teach?
Perhaps right now, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was feeling smug about coming up with such an idea, never considering how much it would alienate people.
"Those books aren't cheap," George said quickly, glancing at their parents. "Gilderoy Lockhart's books are ridiculously expensive…"
Writing novels was usually a dead-end path, but Lockhart had somehow turned that dead end into a golden road. His works weren't just bestsellers—they sold for high prices, too.
Buying one or two might be fine, but the problem was that every student had to purchase an entire set. For families who weren't well-off, it was no small burden—and for the Weasleys, it was even worse. They needed to buy five complete sets.
"Oh, we'll manage somehow," Mrs. Weasley said, though she looked a little worried. "I think many of Ginny's things can be bought second-hand."
Eda set down the supply list and said, "I still have my first- and second-year robes, and some other clothes upstairs. Ginny can pick whatever she likes."
With her growing height, Eda replaced her clothes almost every year. Aside from the ones Professor McGonagall had given her, Ginny was welcome to take any of Eda's old clothes that no longer fit her.
For children with older brothers or sisters, wearing their hand-me-downs was perfectly normal, and Eda didn't see anything wrong with it. Besides, most of her clothes had been bought from Madam Malkin's. Even if they became second-hand once Ginny got them, they were still better than anything from a second-hand robe shop.
Eda didn't yet have the ability to lead the Weasley family to a comfortable life, so this was all she could do.
Since Ron and Ginny were both younger than her, Eda would give her clothes to Ginny (Ron could wear them too if he wanted lol), buy Ron a wand, and get little things for her younger siblings. It was her way of repaying Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for taking her in.
...
A week after receiving the Hogwarts letters, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took everyone to Diagon Alley. It was a Wednesday, and early that morning Mrs. Weasley woke all the children, hurried them through breakfast, and then the family traveled to Diagon Alley via the Floo Network.
It was Harry's first time using this method of travel, and whether he picked the wrong grate or didn't speak clearly enough, he somehow managed to get himself lost.
When the Weasley family arrived in Diagon Alley, they discovered Harry was missing. Everyone panicked—Mrs. Weasley was so worried she nearly cried.
They split up to search for him, and finally found him outside Gringotts.
Harry was standing there with Hagrid and Hermione. He hadn't arrived in Diagon Alley at all, but in Knockturn Alley, where he'd run into Draco Malfoy and his father.
All the boys except Percy were envious of Harry, because they also wanted to look around Knockturn Alley—but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley absolutely forbade it.
An hour later, the whole family arrived at Flourish and Blotts, where Gilderoy Lockhart was holding a signing event for his new book.
After taking a photo with Harry, he dramatically announced that he would be taking the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts in September.
Upon hearing the news, Eda's expression darkened noticeably. Judging people by appearances was wrong and impolite, but Lockhart's first impression on her was simply terrible.
Right now, Eda just wanted to go home and burn all of her blue clothes, because Lockhart was wearing a robe the exact shade of forget-me-not blue. Thanks to him, she suspected she might now be allergic to the colour.
The sight of his smug face and that wide, toothy grin made her feel a little sick. She really wanted to ask how such a nauseating smile had ever won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award.
Most of the people in the queue waiting for Lockhart's autograph were middle-aged witches, with a smaller number of younger ones. This must be the power of "mom fans" and "girlfriend fans," working together to propel such a "charming" man onto the pages of Witch Weekly.
There were hardly any men in the line—after all, "male mom fans" weren't a thing yet.
"I think his smile makes him look like an idiot," Fred said. "Why would Dumbledore hire him? Isn't he afraid the whole school will be full of idiots like that in a year?"
The Defence Against the Dark Arts post had always been a headache, with the turnover rate at one professor per year being ridiculously high. It was understandable they couldn't find an ideal candidate.
Eda just wanted to know why the school couldn't simply drop the subject, or at least rename it. If nothing else, they could create a similar course under a different title—surely that would be better than letting it limp along half-dead.
"Although I also think he looks like an idiot," George said, "you'd better not let Mum hear you say that, or the other half of your backside really won't survive."
"Let's hope he's as brilliant as he claims to be in his books," Eda sighed. "After Quirrell, if we get another teacher who ruins students, I'm afraid I won't be able to resist cursing him."
Just as the three of them were feeling dissatisfied with their future teacher, chaos suddenly broke out in Flourish and Blotts. Bookshelves were knocked over, and customers quickly backed away in panic to avoid getting caught in the fray.
Pushing past the crowd of onlookers, Eda and the twins saw Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy rolling on the floor in a tangle.
Once again, Eda found herself caught up in the very drama she'd only intended to watch from the sidelines, and she wondered if she was simply unworthy of being a bystander.
Fred and George shouted, "Hit him, Dad! Right hook—yes, just like that!"
At the same time, the twins gave Draco Malfoy a wicked look; if young Mr. Malfoy were the same age as them, he'd probably be in the same situation as his father right now.
Thus began the first-ever No-Holds-Barred Diagon Alley Boxing Match:
In the red corner—slightly balding, red-haired Arthur Weasley.
In the white corner—the peacock-like Lucius Malfoy.
The two middle-aged men completely forgot they were wizards, choosing instead to solve the matter in the most primitive way possible.
With adrenaline surging, they exchanged solid punches, occasionally grabbing thick spellbooks from the floor to smash at each other.
Gradually, the constantly hard-working Weasley fighter began to gain the upper hand, while the pampered Malfoy fighter grew increasingly frustrated at taking so many hits.
The no-holds-barred boxing match didn't last long before the towering referee, Hagrid, stepped in and pulled the two fighters apart.
Both competitors, young at heart despite their age, had taken some hits, but overall the Weasley contender won on points, though sadly, no championship belt was awarded.
The defeated Malfoy contender glared venomously at everyone in sight—even Eda received a disdainful look.
If Malfoy had thrown in a dramatic "I'll be back" as he left the shop, he might have pulled off a proper villain's aura. As it was, that glare of his really didn't have much bite.
Mrs. Weasley, half-scolding her husband for brawling in front of the children, tended to the split at the corner of his mouth. Mr. Weasley kept quiet, accepting her lecture without protest, as though he already knew he was in the wrong.
Fred and George, meanwhile, were buzzing with excitement.
Out of their mother's sight, they gave their father an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Mr. Weasley, catching the gesture, took advantage of a moment when his wife wasn't looking to wink conspiratorially at his twin sons.
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