CHAPTER TWO - the new diary
Ginny looked at her surroundings -- there were small, two story buildings that might fall apart any moment seperated by narrow alleyways. A few of the alleyways had signs in front: "Knockturn Alley", "Magick Alley", "Vertic Alley"...
People (some of them actually weren't people) here rushing hurriedly about, dressed in dark cloaks that casted dark shadows upon their faces. Despite their grim appearence, Ginny knew they were friendly. Many of them even stopped to say hi. Some were street performers -- Mrs. Weasley had to drag Ginny away from one man who seemed to have body parts growing out of some of the most unusual places.
Molly Weasley glanced around nervously -- she saw her husband, Ginny, and all her boys, but... where was Harry Potter?
Molly considered Harry to be like her own child. She adored him, and not because he was famous. What was it about him? He was shy and a bit humble, not like her children. Perhaps that was it...
She looked around again, but it was impossible to see anybody three feet from her face. Wizards, witches, and other things blocked all vision.
"Maybe he walked off," she said to herself, quietly, so that only Ginny could hear.
"Mum," Fred was saying, "Mum, what's wrong? You look occupied..."
"Do you know where Harry is?" Ginny knew that her mother was trying to stay calm, but the slight rise in her voice was obvious.
"Er, I haven't looked," said Fred. "I thought he was with you and Ginny."
"Do you think he walked off?" Molly wondered. Ginny peered at her mother closely... she never knew why her mother got concerned over the simplest things.
Harry probably went off to start getting things already, she thought. Then she started to think that it really wasn't like Harry at all.
"We'll... we'll go look, right dad?" said George, dropping a look at his father. Unfortunately Arthur was a wee bit slow, but he finally got the hint.
"Right."
Ron, Fred, George and Arthur disappeared from sight. In a couple minutes Molly decided to catch up with them, partly because she wanted to find Harry, and partly because of the weird man with the many limbs was rapidly approaching from behind.
Then she spotted him with Hagrid. She went dashing over, dragging Ginny along.
"Harry! Oh, Harry, you could have been anywhere!" she said, almost crying with joy.
Ginny blushed as Harry's wild green eyes fell upon and seemed to study her.
"Hello, Hermione." Molly Weasley added, pleasantly.
Ginny chanced a look at Hagrid. Hagrid was huge, about the size of three Ginny's tall and four Ginny's wide. Ginny wondered where he got the huge coat he wore. Certainly there weren't many giant stores around...
After Hagrid left, it was time to withdraw money from Gringotts. Arthur, of course, being obsessed with Muggles as he was, stayed behind to talk to Hermione's parents.
They rode the little goblin carts on tracks down to the Weasley's vault. Ginny enjoyed the ride, but when she got off the felt sick. She staggered around for a little bit, and did something nasty onto the tracks. Then she felt better.
The goblin opened their vault, and Ginny, watching Harry, saw him flush deep red. Ginny found herself flushing too. It was quite stupid, she thought.
Ginny watched her mother scoop all the Sickles and the one Galleon into her purse, and then they hopped back onto the cart-train. This time, Ginny closed her eyes and covered her ears with her hands, and when she got off she felt less sick.
But when the goblin opened Harry's vault, her stomach lurched. It was so full of gold you could swim in it! Ginny found herself craving the money, and even in her mind she wondered whether or not to ask for some to buy new books with. But she knew what her mother's reaction, and especially Fred, George, and Ron's. She saw Harry trying to block the gold from view. He was such a modest boy....
Ginny found herself day dreaming again, this time she and Harry had become married, and were up in the air, flying on dragons. She was rudely lurched out of this thought when the goblin cart started up again.
It wasn't long before she was dreaming again, but this time it was different.
There was a snake. It was long, very long. It could wrap itself around Ginny almost fifteen times... and it was thick. It had glowing yellow eyes, eyes that burned into Ginny's. Ginny found that she couldn't move. She was paralyzed! She felt her panic rising...
And then she was back in the real world.
Ginny looked around to reassure herself. There were no snakes, and her mother was standing next to her. Molly was staring intently and patting down her hair. Ginny followed her mother's vision and saw the one and only Gilderoy Lockhart standing on a stage by a big stack of books.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Her mother was obsessed with Lockhart.
Then, blushing, Ginny realized that it was exactly the same way that SHE felt about Harry!
Ginny looked around. There were a lot of witched around Molly's age, and even some of their husbands, who looked around darkly, showing all signs to their oblivious wives about how they really felt about Lockhart.
Ginny turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming her way. Hermione wore the same expression as Ginny's mother, and started unconsciously playing with her hair.
Harry, Ron and Hermione had books in their hands. "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2".
Suddenly Ginny was startled as Lockhart yelled out, "It CAN'T be... Harry POTTER!"
Ginny saw Harry being literally yanked to the front of the line as Gilderoy struggled to get in photos for the Daily Prophet. Harry blushed the whole time, silently mouthing to Lockhart that he really didn't want to be there. Lockhart didn't see.
Lockhart made an announcement, which basically said, "I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year!" in enlongened form.
Harry finally made his way back to the Weasleys, carrying a stack of free books he had acquired from Lockhart. Harry dropped them into Ginny's cauldron. "You can have them."
To anybody else, this wouldn't have meant much, but Ginny's heart leapt with joy. Harry Potter had given her a gift! She hid her gleeful smile.
Suddenly she heard Harry talking angrily. She thought it was aimed at her at first, but then she saw a kid with blond hair and a sneer, obviously Lucius Malfoy's son. Ginny knew a lot about the Malfoys, and how Arthur Weasley hated them.
"Well well, you can't even walk into the store without making the front page!" Malfoy sneered.
"Leave him alone!" said Ginny, unnaturally shrilly. "He didn't want all that!"
"Look's like Potter's got himself a girlfriend," Malfoy laughed. Ginny felt like punching him extremly hard in the face. She also felt like crying as she felt her face, once again, grow hot.
After Harry and Ron threw a few remarks at Malfoy, and Draco Malfoy did likewise to Harry and Ron, Arthur's father made his way over, but was stopped by Lucius himself.
Ginny felt like punching him extremly hard in the face AND kicking him really hard in the shin. Lucius always gave her father a hard time for liking Muggles. Sometimes Mr. Weasley would complain about the Malfoy's for a very long time at dinner, until someone changed the subject.
"Well well well, Arthur Weasley," said Lucius.
"Lucius," nodded Ginny's father coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Lucius, "all those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?"
Then he pulled an old and battered book out of Ginny's cauldron, waving it in Arthur's angry face. "Obviously not. What's the use being a wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Arthur's face turned red faster than a traffic light.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Arthur said.
"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, glancing at Hermoine's parents, who were watching, bewildered. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower..."
Suddenly Arthur flung himself at Lucius, knocking over Ginny's cauldron. The two men were on each other, rolling and throwing fists.
The crowd oohed, listening intently to the insults the two men threw at each other.
Finally Hagrid broke up the fight, seemingly appearing from nowhere.
He pulled Arthur and Lucius appart. Both were bloody and bruised.
Lucius Malfoy shoved Ginny's book into her cauldron, saying something like, "Take it, girl, if it's the best your family can give you."
Ginny grew so hot that, when Lucius was turned away, she picked up the Encyclopedia of Toadstools and tossed it with perfect accuracy at the back of Lucius's head.
She turned and ran. ***
Well, there you have it! Next chapter will be about Ginny's new friends, the ones she makes on the Hogwarts Express. I promise to try and update quicker, seeing as how it only took me two hours to write this chapter! Oh, and tell me if you would like to be emailed when I update... that's a pretty good idea.
Ginny looked at her surroundings -- there were small, two story buildings that might fall apart any moment seperated by narrow alleyways. A few of the alleyways had signs in front: "Knockturn Alley", "Magick Alley", "Vertic Alley"...
People (some of them actually weren't people) here rushing hurriedly about, dressed in dark cloaks that casted dark shadows upon their faces. Despite their grim appearence, Ginny knew they were friendly. Many of them even stopped to say hi. Some were street performers -- Mrs. Weasley had to drag Ginny away from one man who seemed to have body parts growing out of some of the most unusual places.
Molly Weasley glanced around nervously -- she saw her husband, Ginny, and all her boys, but... where was Harry Potter?
Molly considered Harry to be like her own child. She adored him, and not because he was famous. What was it about him? He was shy and a bit humble, not like her children. Perhaps that was it...
She looked around again, but it was impossible to see anybody three feet from her face. Wizards, witches, and other things blocked all vision.
"Maybe he walked off," she said to herself, quietly, so that only Ginny could hear.
"Mum," Fred was saying, "Mum, what's wrong? You look occupied..."
"Do you know where Harry is?" Ginny knew that her mother was trying to stay calm, but the slight rise in her voice was obvious.
"Er, I haven't looked," said Fred. "I thought he was with you and Ginny."
"Do you think he walked off?" Molly wondered. Ginny peered at her mother closely... she never knew why her mother got concerned over the simplest things.
Harry probably went off to start getting things already, she thought. Then she started to think that it really wasn't like Harry at all.
"We'll... we'll go look, right dad?" said George, dropping a look at his father. Unfortunately Arthur was a wee bit slow, but he finally got the hint.
"Right."
Ron, Fred, George and Arthur disappeared from sight. In a couple minutes Molly decided to catch up with them, partly because she wanted to find Harry, and partly because of the weird man with the many limbs was rapidly approaching from behind.
Then she spotted him with Hagrid. She went dashing over, dragging Ginny along.
"Harry! Oh, Harry, you could have been anywhere!" she said, almost crying with joy.
Ginny blushed as Harry's wild green eyes fell upon and seemed to study her.
"Hello, Hermione." Molly Weasley added, pleasantly.
Ginny chanced a look at Hagrid. Hagrid was huge, about the size of three Ginny's tall and four Ginny's wide. Ginny wondered where he got the huge coat he wore. Certainly there weren't many giant stores around...
After Hagrid left, it was time to withdraw money from Gringotts. Arthur, of course, being obsessed with Muggles as he was, stayed behind to talk to Hermione's parents.
They rode the little goblin carts on tracks down to the Weasley's vault. Ginny enjoyed the ride, but when she got off the felt sick. She staggered around for a little bit, and did something nasty onto the tracks. Then she felt better.
The goblin opened their vault, and Ginny, watching Harry, saw him flush deep red. Ginny found herself flushing too. It was quite stupid, she thought.
Ginny watched her mother scoop all the Sickles and the one Galleon into her purse, and then they hopped back onto the cart-train. This time, Ginny closed her eyes and covered her ears with her hands, and when she got off she felt less sick.
But when the goblin opened Harry's vault, her stomach lurched. It was so full of gold you could swim in it! Ginny found herself craving the money, and even in her mind she wondered whether or not to ask for some to buy new books with. But she knew what her mother's reaction, and especially Fred, George, and Ron's. She saw Harry trying to block the gold from view. He was such a modest boy....
Ginny found herself day dreaming again, this time she and Harry had become married, and were up in the air, flying on dragons. She was rudely lurched out of this thought when the goblin cart started up again.
It wasn't long before she was dreaming again, but this time it was different.
There was a snake. It was long, very long. It could wrap itself around Ginny almost fifteen times... and it was thick. It had glowing yellow eyes, eyes that burned into Ginny's. Ginny found that she couldn't move. She was paralyzed! She felt her panic rising...
And then she was back in the real world.
Ginny looked around to reassure herself. There were no snakes, and her mother was standing next to her. Molly was staring intently and patting down her hair. Ginny followed her mother's vision and saw the one and only Gilderoy Lockhart standing on a stage by a big stack of books.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Her mother was obsessed with Lockhart.
Then, blushing, Ginny realized that it was exactly the same way that SHE felt about Harry!
Ginny looked around. There were a lot of witched around Molly's age, and even some of their husbands, who looked around darkly, showing all signs to their oblivious wives about how they really felt about Lockhart.
Ginny turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming her way. Hermione wore the same expression as Ginny's mother, and started unconsciously playing with her hair.
Harry, Ron and Hermione had books in their hands. "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2".
Suddenly Ginny was startled as Lockhart yelled out, "It CAN'T be... Harry POTTER!"
Ginny saw Harry being literally yanked to the front of the line as Gilderoy struggled to get in photos for the Daily Prophet. Harry blushed the whole time, silently mouthing to Lockhart that he really didn't want to be there. Lockhart didn't see.
Lockhart made an announcement, which basically said, "I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year!" in enlongened form.
Harry finally made his way back to the Weasleys, carrying a stack of free books he had acquired from Lockhart. Harry dropped them into Ginny's cauldron. "You can have them."
To anybody else, this wouldn't have meant much, but Ginny's heart leapt with joy. Harry Potter had given her a gift! She hid her gleeful smile.
Suddenly she heard Harry talking angrily. She thought it was aimed at her at first, but then she saw a kid with blond hair and a sneer, obviously Lucius Malfoy's son. Ginny knew a lot about the Malfoys, and how Arthur Weasley hated them.
"Well well, you can't even walk into the store without making the front page!" Malfoy sneered.
"Leave him alone!" said Ginny, unnaturally shrilly. "He didn't want all that!"
"Look's like Potter's got himself a girlfriend," Malfoy laughed. Ginny felt like punching him extremly hard in the face. She also felt like crying as she felt her face, once again, grow hot.
After Harry and Ron threw a few remarks at Malfoy, and Draco Malfoy did likewise to Harry and Ron, Arthur's father made his way over, but was stopped by Lucius himself.
Ginny felt like punching him extremly hard in the face AND kicking him really hard in the shin. Lucius always gave her father a hard time for liking Muggles. Sometimes Mr. Weasley would complain about the Malfoy's for a very long time at dinner, until someone changed the subject.
"Well well well, Arthur Weasley," said Lucius.
"Lucius," nodded Ginny's father coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Lucius, "all those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?"
Then he pulled an old and battered book out of Ginny's cauldron, waving it in Arthur's angry face. "Obviously not. What's the use being a wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Arthur's face turned red faster than a traffic light.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Arthur said.
"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, glancing at Hermoine's parents, who were watching, bewildered. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower..."
Suddenly Arthur flung himself at Lucius, knocking over Ginny's cauldron. The two men were on each other, rolling and throwing fists.
The crowd oohed, listening intently to the insults the two men threw at each other.
Finally Hagrid broke up the fight, seemingly appearing from nowhere.
He pulled Arthur and Lucius appart. Both were bloody and bruised.
Lucius Malfoy shoved Ginny's book into her cauldron, saying something like, "Take it, girl, if it's the best your family can give you."
Ginny grew so hot that, when Lucius was turned away, she picked up the Encyclopedia of Toadstools and tossed it with perfect accuracy at the back of Lucius's head.
She turned and ran. ***
Well, there you have it! Next chapter will be about Ginny's new friends, the ones she makes on the Hogwarts Express. I promise to try and update quicker, seeing as how it only took me two hours to write this chapter! Oh, and tell me if you would like to be emailed when I update... that's a pretty good idea.
