Chapter Two

Halloween

"So, why's mum not coming with us?" Mia asked again.

"Because she's having a bit of trouble coming to terms with this whole magic thing," her dad told her. "She'll come round."

"And what if I don't like them?" Mia asked. This had been her constant worry in the past week since it had been arranged that she and her dad would be spending Halloween with her dad's cousin and his family.

"I'll be with you the whole time," her dad reassured her. Mia could tell he was nervous too.

They turned into a square and her dad parked the car.

"Well, this is it," her dad said. "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."
They got out of the car. "They live here?" Mia asked. The house they were parked outside was in the middle of a terrace – it had to be at least four stories tall.

"Apparently they only use it for holidays," her dad said as they walked up the front steps. He knocked on the door.

The man who opened the door had untidy black hair, round glasses and a thin, lighting bolt scar on his forehead.

"Dudley!" he said warmly, shaking Mia's dad's had. "And you must be Mia. Come in, come in."

Mia and her dad followed Harry into the house.

"We'll go up to the drawing room," Harry said, leading the way up the stairs. "Molly and Fleur have banned the rest of us from the kitchen until tonight."
As they reached the drawing room door, every head turned their way. Mia tried to take them in at once. There were two boys, one red-haired and one silvery-fair, sat practically in the doorway playing chess, only the chess pieces moved... sat on a sofa nearby were three men, one elderly and balding, the other two red haired, one's face showing multiple scars. They were shouting things like 'Get him Louis!' and 'You've gotta be firmer with them, Hugo; they're only chess pieces!'

A girl about Mia's own age with waist-length red hair was sat in a corner, building a car tower with two smaller boys, who appear to be twins. They were being half watched by a couple sharing an armchair; she was sitting on his lap absent-mindedly running her fingers though his hair. Finally, there were two women, one with bushy brown hair, the other with long red hair, sat chatting as knitting needles flashed in mid-air in front of the brown haired woman.

The elderly man got up and hurried over to Mia and her father.

"Arthur Weasley," he said, holding out his hand to Mia's dad, "But we've met before, of course."
"Lily," Harry called across the room, and the red-haired girl got to her feet and picked her way across the room, knocking the chess board flying as she did so.

"Lily!" the silvery-blonde boy exclaimed. "Watch where you're going!"

"Yeah, we were playing that!" the red-haired boy added.

"Well, perhaps you shouldn't be playing right in the doorway, then," Lily retorted. "Yeah, Dad?"

"Can you look after Mia?" Harry asked. "She's probably feeling a little overwhelmed."

"Sure," Lily nodded, grabbing Mia's hand. "C'mon. I'll introduce you to everyone. This is Louis-" she indicated the silvery-haired boy, who was scrambling around picking up the chess pieces"-and Hugo."

"Hi," the red-haired boy grinned.

"They're my cousins," Lily said. "And you've already met my dad, and this is my mum-"

"Hi Mia," the red-haired woman smiled.

"-and my Aunt Hermione-" the brown-haired woman smiled over her knitting. "She's married to Uncle Ron-" Lily indicated one of the red-haired men "-and they're Hugo's parents. Then there's uncle Bill, and Auntie Fleur's downstairs in the kitchen. They're Louis' parents."

"Why's his face all scarred?" Mia asked Lily in a whisper.

"He was attacked by a werewolf," Lily explained.

"Werewolves are real?" Mia asked, incredulous.

"Uh-huh," Lily nodded. "Louis' sister Victoire's boyfriend Teddy's dad was one."
Mia tried to untangle the relationships, but gave it up as a bad job.

"Lily, you haven't intr'duced us."

Lily and Mia both looked down to see the two little boys had given up on their card tower.

"Mia, this is Lorcan and Lysander Scamander," Lily told her. "And those are their parents, Rolf and Luna. They're my godparents. James gloats that his godparents are Hogwarts Headmistress and Minister of Magic, but I think Rolf and Luna are cooler than that."

"Minister of Magic?" Mia asked.

"His name's Kingsley Shacklebolt," Lily said. "He's like in charge of the Ministry – you know, the Wizarding Government."

"Kingsley's so cool, though," said Hugo, appearing at Lily's elbow. "C'mon, it's too crowded in here. Let's go to your room, Lil."

"Alright," Lily agreed. "Coming, Louis?"

"And us?" asked Lorcan, or was it Lysander? – Mia wasn't sure.

"You're too little," Louis told them pointedly.

"We'll come back," Hugo promised.

"Lorcan, Lysander, I think there's a wrackspurt in here!" Luna called excitedly. "Come and see what you think!"

"What's a wrackspurt?" Mia asked as the four of them headed up the next flight of stairs.

Louis and Hugo grinned to each other as Lily explained, "They don't exist. Well, Luna thinks they do, but... no one's ever seen one..." She pushed open the door to a bedroom on the second floor.

"This is your room?" Mia asked.

Lily nodded. "Mine and Rose's, when we stay here."

Louis sprawled himself across one of the beds.

"So," he grinned. "Hogwarts."

"Are you starting next year too?" Mia asked.

"Yeah," Louis said. "And Hugo. So it'll be the four of us starting together."

"What's it like – Hogwarts?" Mia asked. "Have you been there before?"

"Yeah," Hugo said. "We go there every year, on Victory Day?"

"Victory Day?" Mia asked.

Lily clapped her hand to her mouth. "Hugo! She doesn't even know about Voldermort!"

"Who's Voldermort?" Mia asked.

"Who was Voldermort," Louis corrected, grinning. "Only the greatest Dark Wizard ever!"

"But... was... so he's dead?" Mia asked.

"Uh-huh," Lily nodded. "And guess who defeated him?"

"Who?"Mia asked.

"My dad," Lily said triumphantly.

"So... Victory Day's the day your dad defeated Voldermort?" Mia asked.

"Yeah," Hugo said enthusiastically. "So we all go to Hogwarts, to celebrate... and to remember the dead."
"Did... did lots of people die?" Mia asked.

Hugo nodded solemnly. "Like sixty or seventy? Our Uncle Fred was one of them. And Teddy's parents."

"He's the one who's dad was a werewolf," Lily explained. "And he's going out with Louis' sister Vic."

"Where is Hogwarts?" Mia asked.

"Scotland," Lily said. "If you came with us tomorrow, you could see it... only from the outside, though, of course."

"You're going to Hogwarts tomorrow?" Mia asked. "Just going up to Scotland, just like that?"

"Well, Hogsmede, the village just outside Hogwarts," Lily said. "And yeah, we're just apperating."

"You know, disappearing and then reappearing in another place," Hugo said.

"Yeah, just like that," Louis said, snapping his fingers.

"And you can do that?" Mia asked, incredulous.

"Well, we can't," Lily said. "You have to be seventeen and have a license. But our parents can take us, side-along. Hey, maybe you could ask your dad if you could stay here tonight and come with us tomorrow."
"Would your parents mind?" Mia asked.

"Nope," Lily grinned. "We better go check, though. And ask your dad... that's if you want to, of course."

"Yeah, I do," Mia said. "Let's go ask."