Life at the Burrow was as different as possible from life on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. Lyla got a shock the first time she looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, while Percy remained entirely inside his room, for long hours at a time, which the Weasleys seemed to consider normal. What the sisters found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: It was the fact that everybody there seemed to like them and always wanted to talk about anything magical.

Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of how thin the girls were and tried to force each to eat fourth helpings at every meal. Mr. Weasley liked them to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard them with questions about life with Muggles, asking Lyla to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked.

"Fascinating!" he would say as Arabella talked him through using a telephone. "Ingenious, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic."

After a week of having arrived at the Burrow, they all heard from Hogwarts. Going down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley already sitting at the kitchen table. Ginny joined only moments later, and when she caught sight of Lyla, she promptly tripped and fell face-first onto the ground with a small squeak. Ginny, it seemed, had become very prone to knocking things over or falling whenever the two newcomers entered a room. Scrambling to her feet, she emerged hastily, her face glowing like a bright setting sun. Pretending she hadn't noticed this, Lyla sat down and took the toast Mrs. Weasley offered her. Arabella took her usual seat on his other side and reached for a plate of bacon, stacking four pieces onto her plate and beaming.

"Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing two identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, it seems— doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred, George and Ron ambled in, still in their pajamas.

For a few minutes, there was silence as they all read their letters. Each told him to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September first. There was also a list of the new books he'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 reading his own list, peered over at Ron's and frowned.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said incredulously. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts 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 with a smile. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand, however." She looked a bit worried.

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Arabella asked Ginny politely.

She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. Fortunately, no one saw this except Arabella, because just then Ron's elder 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 leaped up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a molting, gray feather duster— at least, that was what the sisters thought it was until they 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 Daphne's answer. I wrote to her, Hermione, and Draco saying we were going to try and rescue you."

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 darkly. Then he ripped open the letter and read it out loud:

"'Dear Ron, (and Arabella and Lyla if you're there),

I hope everything went alright and that Everyone's okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get them out, Ron, because that would get Arabella and Lyla into trouble, too. I've been really worried about them. Will you please let me know at once if they're alright? 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?" asked Arabella in horror. "We're on vacation!— I really think Hermione's rubbed off on her—

'and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. Love from Daphne.'"

"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 Weasley boys had planned to go up the hill to a small paddock the family-owned. It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from the view of the village below, meaning that they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high. They couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village; instead, they threw apples for one another to catch. They took turns riding Arabella and Lyla's Nimbus Two Thousand, which was easily the best broom out of the lot brought up; Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies.

Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. They had asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he was busy. Lyla had only seen Percy at mealtimes so far; he stayed shut in his room the rest of the time.

"Wish I knew what he was up to," said Fred, frowning. "He's not himself. His exam results came the day before you did; twelve O.W.L.s and he hardly gloated at all."

"You know, Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Lyla explained, seeing Arabella's puzzled look. "Remember that extra work I was doing for Professor Snape last year? Yeah, that."

"Bill got twelve, too," said George in disgust. "If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame."

Bill was the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. the sisters had never met either of them but knew that Charlie was in Romania studying dragons and Bill in Egypt working for the wizards' bank, Gringotts.

"Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year," said Fred after a while. "Five sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs robes and a wand and everything…"

Arabella and Lyla shared a knocking glance. They both felt a bit awkward when the topic of money came up. Stored in an underground vault at Gringotts in London was a small fortune that Lily and James Potter had left for their children. Of course, it was only in the Wizarding world that the sisters even had money; you couldn't use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in Muggle shops. They had never mentioned their Gringotts bank account to the Dursleys; as Lyla greatly valued being independent of her own money.

Mrs. Weasley woke them all early the following Wednesday. After a quick half a dozen bacon sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peered inside.

"We're running low, Arthur," she sighed in dismay. "We'll have to buy some more today… Ah well, guests first! After you, dears!"

And she offered Arabella the flowerpot.

"W-what am I supposed to do exactly?" she stammered out.

"Oh! They've never traveled by Floo powder," said Ron suddenly. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Never?" said Mr. Weasley in surprise. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"

"We went on the Underground—" began Lyla.

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly, cutting the poor girl off in his excitement "Were there escapaters? How exactly—"

"Not now, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley firmly. "Floo powder is a lot quicker, but goodness me, if you've never used it before—"

"They'll be all right, Mum," said Fred. "You two, watch us go 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 a shocking emerald green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished.

"You must speak very clearly, dear," Mrs. Weasley told Arabella as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. "And be sure to get out at the right grate…"

"The right what?" she asked 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, Arthur, if they got lost, how would we ever explain that to their parents?"

"It's alright," said Lyla quickly. "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't worry about that—"

"Well… all right… you go after Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley to Arabella. "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 too much," added 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," finished Mrs. Weasley kindly.

Arabella nodded, going pale as she reached for a pinch of the Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire grate. She inhaled sharply, scattered the powder, and stepped forward.

"Diagon Alley!"

And she vanished in the large green flames.

"Lyla, you ready?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

Nodding, Lyla followed exactly what everyone else had done, grabbing a pinch of powder and tossing it into the fireplace. As she stepped forward, the fire itself felt like a gentle warm breeze. She opened her mouth and immediately swallowed a lot of hot ash.

"D-Dia-gon Alley," she coughed, throat burning.

It felt as though she were being sucked down a giant drain. She seemed to be spinning very fast— the roaring in her ears was deafening— she tried to keep her eyes open but the whirl of green flames made her stomach churn horribly— something hard knocked at her elbow and he tucked it in tightly, still spinning and spinning— now it felt as though cold hands were slapping her face— squinting through the whirl of ash and flames, she saw a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the rooms beyond— her bacon sandwiches were swirling nauseatingly inside her— she closed her eyes again wishing it would stop, and then—

She fell, face forward, onto cold stone and felt a shocking pain shoot up the bridge of her nose. Dizzy and bruised, covered in soot, she slowly got to her feet, gingerly touching her nose and wincing in pain. She was quite alone, but wherever she was, she had no idea. All she could make out was that she was standing in the stone fireplace of what looked like a large, dimly lit wizard's shop— but nothing in here was ever likely to be on a Hogwarts school list.

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