It was the first of September, and Ginny Weasley had just arrived with her mother back at the Burrow, having seen the boys off on the Hogwarts Express. Her father was at work, and the house seemed very quiet as she made her way up to her room, kicking aside the trail of socks that lay on the stairs, apparently dropped by one of her brothers during their hasty departure.
She stepped into her room and went to the window, opening it wide to let in the warm breeze, listening to the birdsong as she looked upon the garden and the open meadow where sometimes her brothers let her play Quidditch with them. For her entire life, she'd watched her older brothers go away for the school year, but always before others had been left behind, too. The past two years, with just Ron to play with, had even been kind of fun. He was a lot nicer when it was just the two of them. But now he was gone to Hogwarts, too.
"And little Ginny stays home with Mommy," she sighed.
She flopped down on her bed and grabbed a copy of Quidditch Weekly of her nightstand. It was an old issue, but she'd kept it for months because of its profile of Clarice Gibson of the Holyhead Harpies. Ginny had read this article so many times the magazine immediately flopped open to the a full page photograph of the blonde chaser, who laughed and winked as Ginny gazed upon her hero. The article stated that Clarice's favorite food was mushy peas, which Ginny hated but after reading that had told her mother she loved and valiantly choked down for weeks in an effort to force herself to like them, too. She wished she was tall and blond, but she seemed doomed to forever be a short redhead, just like her mother.
Molly Weasley's voice drifted up the stairs. "Ginny, come down and eat!"
Ginny carefully returned her magazine to its place and walked down to the kitchen, where a bowl of mushy peas and a platter piled high with roast beef lay on the table. She slid into her seat and waited for the serving spoons to fill up her plate.
"Well, dear, looks like it's just the two of us."
"I suppose so."
"Can you believe we met Harry Potter? Oh, imagine, he might even be in the same house as Ron? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Ginny blushed when she remembered how she had been unable to even speak to the famous Boy Who Lived. "I guess."
"Hmm. Well, now that your brothers are off to school, we'll need to be starting your lessons soon. Wouldn't do for you to not be prepared for next year."
"Yes, mum," Ginny mumbled.
"Your father and I have been talking, and were wondering what you would think about going to a Muggle school this year
Ginny nearly choked on her food. "A Muggle school?" she gasped.
"Yes, there's one down in the village and, well, you know sometimes I tease your father about his funny ideas concerning Muggles, but he's not entirely wrong. Wizards and witches should know more about the Muggle world. And it would do you good to mix with children your own age."
"But … a Muggle school?"
Molly smiled. "Yes, a Muggle school. Now eat up, we have an appointment with the head teacher in an hour."
Ginny gulped and stared at her plate, her appetite having suddenly fled.