The summer days slowly passed. Ginny looked across at the hills beyond The Burrow. The cows in the neighbour's pasture moved about as quickly as the sun across the sky. They hardly moved at all. The last year had been dreadful. Ginny had gone with the family to Platform Nine and Three Quarters to see the boys off on the Hogwarts Express. Percy, Fred, George, and Ron were eager to go, and she had to stay. She told her mother it was unfair, but Mrs Weasley had no sympathy.
There was no hint that Harry Potter was there. That was another disappointment.
Then Ron wrote to Mum about what happened on the train and at the Sorting.
Ron said he met Harry Potter on the train, but he was strange. He said that Harry was short and skinny. He had dark glasses that he wore all the time. Harry not only had the lightning-shaped scar, but he had many more scars over his face. There were more scars which went right across his head. Harry wore a traditional hat all the time, which covered some of the scars.
Ron said that Harry talked to other people that he already knew. Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones, some girl that Susan Bones knew, and a new girl called Granger were there. He nearly ignored Ron.
Then Harry was sorted into Slytherin. Ron said that Harry did that deliberately. Potters always go into Gryffindor; everyone knows that.
Ron said he felt angry when he saw Harry sitting at the Slytherin table.
Ginny wasn’t sure about Ron. He always yelled out whatever came into his head without thinking about it.
Ron didn’t write many letters after that. Mum and Dad got more letters from Professor McGonagall. The letters from the professor all had the same result. Mum would wait until Dad got home then Ginny would be told to go and feed the chickens. Then this really fierce whisper fight would start between Mum and Dad. Then Dad would write a letter to the professor, and Mum would write to Ron.
Ron wrote a letter after Halloween and the Troll invasion. He said the Granger girl had given up being friends with Harry and told the Gryffindors about how dark and evil Harry was. Ron said that Harry had let the troll in, and he was building up a gang of evil Slytherins. Dad said that Slytherins were always evil. After Christmas, Ron wrote a letter. He said he was angry that the Granger girl had gone back to being friends with Neville Longbottom and Harry. Ron didn’t write any more letters, but there were letters from Professor McGonagall.
Then a letter came from the professor that made Mum scream. Ron would have to repeat his first year. He didn’t pass enough exams. Mum went to Hogwarts and spent a whole day there. Ginny had to go to Aunt Muriel's place for the day, which she didn’t like at all. Mum collected Ginny from Aunt Muriel’s and took her home. When her father arrived home, Mum announced that she had made Professor McGonagall change her mind about Ron. Ron would go on to his second year. Dad warned Ginny that she had to pass her exams when she went to Hogwarts.
Ron came home for the summer holidays. He was grumpy and didn’t want to answer any questions about Harry except to say, “Potter is an evil Slytherin”. Ginny was disappointed again. Her Mum and Dad didn’t tell Ron that he was wrong. For years her Mum had told her stories about how wonderful Harry was. Ginny dreamed about meeting Harry but didn’t say anything more about him. She didn’t want Ron yelling at her, her mother yelling at her, or, worst of all, her father to be unhappy with her.
The Weasley family went to Diagon Alley to do their school shopping. There was a book signing at Flourish and Blott's. Ginny’s mum was a fan of the author, Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart’s books were on the book lists for all Hogwarts students. Ginny’s mum joined the lineup to get Lockhart to sign a book.
Then Ginny’s father did something stupid. People who didn’t know Ginny’s dad well were shocked, but Ginny wasn’t surprised. When confronted by any Hogwarts graduate who had been a member of Slytherin, Arthur Weasley had a very short fuse. When that Slytherin was Malfoy, that short fuse was alight and burning. Lucius Malfoy insulted the Weasleys and picked up Ginny’s second-hand transfiguration textbook from her new cauldron while he delivered more insults.
Arthur Weasley responded with some old-fashioned bar room brawling. The fight was quickly broken up by Hagrid, who happened to be close by. Malfoy tossed Ginny’s textbook back into her cauldron.
Ginny knew that all the Weasley boys and her father reacted badly to Slytherins. This was the first time she had seen what happened when her father had ‘words’ with Mister Malfoy. It was precisely what she had expected. Arthur Weasley had always wanted to catch Lucius Malfoy doing something illegal. Ginny also knew her father’s calm attitude had limits. However, it was curious that it was always Lucius Malfoy who set Arthur Weasley off.
Ginny wasn’t silly. She would never directly question her father about this quirk in his behaviour. Also, Ginny wanted to know why the normally peaceful Ministry official risked his job by attacking the Minister of Magic’s prominent supporter. She decided to collect information from her brothers.
-ooOOoo-
“Percy, can I ask you something?”
Percy was heading for the stairs to his room at The Burrow.
Percy turned, “Sure, Ginny, what do you want to know?”
“Can we go to your room, Percy? I don’t want Ron to hear me and start yelling.”
Percy chuckled, “Sure, Ginny, come on up.”
They got to Percy’s room, and Ginny looked out the window. She saw Ron and the twins headed to The Burrow’s homemade Quidditch practice goals.
Ginny turned to Percy. “I want to know why Dad and all the boys hate the Slytherins so much and why Dad seems to be itching to make Mister Malfoy draw his wand. It looks like Dad wants Malfoy to try to curse him so that Dad can curse Malfoy back.”
Percy looked at Ginny for a few seconds.
”Ginny, why are you asking me that?”
“Because you seem to be able to control yourself. You don’t like Slytherins, and I can see your face when Dad talks about Malfoy. You look like you’ve smelled something rotten.”
“Something rotten,” Percy said, “that describes the Malfoys. They claim to have French ancestors. You know that the word Malfoy is made up from the French words for bad faith.”
“That figures,” Ginny said.
“As for why the Weasley boys don’t like Slytherins, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Percy.”
“Do you feel anything when we talk about Slytherins or the Malfoys?”
Ginny thought for a few seconds.
“No, not really. I know they are not to be trusted, but I don’t hate them like the boys and Dad do.”
“Right! To set the record straight, I feel a powerful push in my magic when dealing with Slytherins. Whenever I see the Malfoy boy at Hogwarts, I want to get my wand out and hex him. There is no reason; I feel it in my magic that I must do it.”
“That’s weird. I don’t get any feeling like that. Mum and Dad say that my magic is growing quickly. I should do well at Hogwarts this year, according to Dad.”
“So you should. What you said about how you feel about the Slytherins, is that what you always feel?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeh, always. I don't hate them; I just don’t trust them.”
Percy thought for a moment. “You know, I think that Mum is the same. She certainly doesn’t trust them and always warns us about them, but she doesn’t seem to react to them like our brothers and Dad do.”
Ginny thought for a second. “How do the twins behave towards them when they’re at Hogwarts?”
Percy laughed, “Fred and George play their most adventurous pranks on the Slytherins. The Slytherins really don’t like them. The twins are getting better at not leaving any incriminating evidence behind them. Still, it’s obvious they are the only ones sneaky enough to do what they do.”
Ginny smiled, “Fred and George act out their feelings by staging embarrassing and humiliating pranks. If the victim is a proud snob, like many Slytherins, that would be worse than fighting. Bill and Charlie had plenty of rough incidents, but they seem to have kept it on the Quidditch pitch. You are more self-controlled, but you feel the same as they do. On the other hand, Ron has no self-control or sneakiness and just yells out whatever comes into his head.”
Percy stared at Ginny. “You summed that up like you’ve already had this worked out.”
Ginny smiled. “I’ve had months here with Mum and Dad. I do some simple lessons with Mum. I’ve had plenty of time to think things through. I’ve always dreamed about Harry Potter.”
Percy laughed. “That’s obvious. You talk about him nearly every day.”
Ginny grimaced and continued. “I’ve always dreamed about Harry Potter, and now he is in Slytherin, and all the Weasley boys hate him. Soon, I have to start at Hogwarts, and I have no idea how to act towards him.”
“Ah!” Percy folded his arms and then touched one finger to his cheek. “Nil desperandum, Ginny. Perhaps things are not always as they seem to be. Mister Potter is a special case. Fred and George definitely have an arrangement with him. They say nothing about it, but Harry is safe from their pranks. Also, Harry has two Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs in his group. They are always together. They sit together at meals and study together in the library. There are also three Slytherins and now a Ravenclaw in his group. That is quite a big gang, even for Hogwarts, and he will only be in his second year this year. Maybe, you could attach yourself to Hermione Granger or Neville Longbottom if you are in Gryffindor. If you are in Hufflepuff, the people to go to are Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. The Ravenclaw is Sue Li, but Luna Lovegood will be in her first year this year, and I have heard that she is already part of his team. She is certain to be a Ravenclaw.”
Ginny put her hands on her hips. “Now that’s annoyed me! I talk to Luna nearly every day while I’ve been stuck here. She never said anything about being connected to Harry. How do you know about Luna?”
Percy nodded, “I’m not surprised about Luna not telling you. Remember, Fred and George are somehow in Harry’s team, and we don’t hear anything about that. People who are working with Harry are good at keeping secrets. How did I know? I was told that a group, including Harry and Luna, spent some time at Greengrass Manor during the Christmas break.”
Ginny looked at Percy with a new glint in her eyes. “How do you know this? If Harry’s friends keep so many secrets, how come you know about them?”
Percy looked down, “I might have heard some things I would not normally hear. Professor McGonagall has been asking me all these questions. She was trying to find out about Harry and about our family. She has been asking all the other head-of-house professors. I didn’t know what it was about until Mum told me the Headmaster would send Harry to stay with us for the summer holidays.”
“STAY WITH US! WHY! RON HATES HARRY! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AWFUL!” Ginny realised she could be heard outside the house and slapped her hands over her mouth.
Percy had put up his hands to shush Ginny. “It never happened, of course. Director Bones wrote to Dad and told him that Harry is in her protective custody and he will never be allowed to stay at The Burrow. She told Dad to ignore the headmaster. Headmaster Dumbledore might be Harry’s Magical Guardian, but Director Bones has Harry in a safe house, and nobody in the Ministry will argue with her about that.”
Ginny shook her head, “OK! You still haven’t told me why there is this thing between Weasley males and Slytherins, particularly the Malfoys.”
“I can’t make you forget about that, can I?”
“No! Tell me!”
Percy shrugged and reluctantly spoke, “There is a curse on the Weasleys.”
Ginny frowned, “What? How do you know that?”
“I don’t know the facts. I haven’t seen it written in an official history. However, the pattern shows up in every generation. It goes from father to son right down through the centuries. Weasleys are the first into any fight with the Slytherins. The Malfoys are the focus of that hostility. The same curse is probably why the Weasleys earn money but can’t hold on to it. We’re not poor; Dad is well paid, and his father had a good income, but the money doesn’t collect in our vault. That is the sort of thing that a family curse does.”
“Have you asked Dad about this?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. I’ll have to get Bill to tell me what he knows. Bill is Dad’s heir, so knowing about things like that is his business. It might come out later; I disagree with Dad about how much he supports Dumbledore. Dumbledore should have helped the Weasleys break this curse, but nothing like that has happened.”
Ginny folded her arms. “Well, that explains why Ron is the way he is. He won’t think about complicated things like curses that last from generation to generation. You and Bill will have to find out about it. After what you said about the headmaster trying to get Harry to stay here, I’m not sure about him either.
Now! I’m going to Luna’s place to get an explanation from her. She and I will be best friends when we get to Hogwarts, or else.”
-ooOOoo-
The odd building was slightly crooked. It looked like a rook from a chess set. Some people called it The Rookery, but it didn’t have a name. It was the Lovegood house.
Ginny’s voice sounded from the fireplace.
“Luna! Are you there, Luna?”
Xenophilius Lovegood came into the central room where the fireplace was located.
“Hello, Ginny! Luna is coming; she is cleaning up after making some berry conserve.”
“Can I come through, Mister Lovegood? I must talk to Luna about Hogwarts.”
“Certainly, Ginny! Please come through.”
Ginny stepped through the floo as Luna came into the room. Luna wore her oldest clothes, a purple stained wrap-around apron and comfortable pixie boots.
The girls hugged and waved to Xeno Lovegood, who was already climbing up to his workroom where he compiled and printed his magazine, The Quibbler.
“Come into the kitchen, Ginny. I’m still finishing the bottling.”
The kitchen was a walled-off part of the central room. There were dozens of bottles standing on a bench. They were filled with purple berry conserve, and some bottles had lids. Luna finished putting the lids on.
“When these are cool, Daddy will put a stasis charm on them. They will last until the next harvest when I can collect more berries and make some more conserve for Daddy. He loves berry conserve.”
Ginny perched on a stool and waited for Luna to finish. Luna checked that all the lids were on tight, took her oversized purple patched apron off and dumped it in a washing basket.
‘Let’s walk outside, Luna.”
“Good, I’d like to cool off.”
Ginny walked beside her friend. She was suddenly unable to start the conversation she wanted to have.
“Ginny, do you need to talk about Harry Potter? I don’t mind if you do. We might see him very soon, and I think you have many questions you need to ask about him.”
Ginny bit her lip. She took a breath. “I’ve just found out that you have met him. You didn’t tell me that you had met him. I’ve been complaining about not knowing anything about him, and you said nothing. Why?”
Luna looked up at the clouds. “It might rain soon. Do you want to go back and talk in my room?”
“Luna, please don’t distract me. I want to know.”
Luna turned to Ginny, “There’s something in my room that you should see. I’ll tell you what I know while we are walking back to the house.”
Ginny nodded and waited.
“I met Harry Potter at The Ossuary. I was invited there by Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. Hannah is my cousin, and Susan is too. This was before Susan and Hannah went to Hogwarts. Aunt Amelia brought Harry there when he was released from St Mungos. He was very thin and got tired very easily. He hardly talked and didn’t smile at all. Aunt Amelia told us to not bother Harry with questions.”
Ginny frowned, “That’s nothing like what I thought he would be like.”
Luna continued, “He was given these dark glasses, which are magical. He couldn’t see much and stopped himself from walking into things by sensing the magic in everything around him. The glasses let him see living things and anything warm.”
“What does he look like?”
Luna shrugged. “When I first saw him, he was short, thin, and looked like he would blow away in the wind. He had the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, but he also had a lot of other scars on his face and over his head. I talked to him and told him some things I heard from the fae. He thanked me and asked me to write to him if I had anything else to say.”
Ginny gasped, “You told me you never tell anyone about what the fae said. Why did you tell him?”
“The fae messenger told me to. They are tricksters and are always trying to get me into trouble, but this time they proved that they were not joking. They told me to tell Harry. Harry has to keep messages from the fae secret as well.”
“Percy told me that you were at Greengrass Manor.”
“Yes, Susan asked Lord Greengrass to invite me. Harry had changed by then. He was much stronger, and he talked a lot more. He was hurt by Troll Fever and used his staff to move around. Harry showed some of his power.”
Ginny squealed, “Harry was hurt! How?”
“He fought the troll that was let into Hogwarts. He killed the troll with one spell. The troll cut Harry’s face, and Harry got Troll Fever. He could have died, but he recovered. He walks with a limp and uses a staff because of the Troll Fever.”
“Nobody heard anything about that! Why wasn’t it in The Daily Prophet? The news we got made it sound like a teacher or the headmaster dealt with the troll.”
“Ginny, some of what you see in The Daily Prophet is true, but parts of it are made up, and a lot is left out. The truth is almost always something wild and hard to catch.”
“What gets left out?” Ginny asked.
“Mainly things like Harry being sent to Azkaban for most of his life. He was only let out when his Hogwarts letter arrived.”
Ginny stopped walking. “Azkaban. Why? What happened? He was supposed to be living like a prince.”
"There was an accidental magic outburst from Harry when he was fifteen months old. His relations in the house he was in were killed. The ministry thought that Harry was someone else. The only safe place to keep him was Azkaban. The minister for Magic has managed to keep that out of The Daily Prophet. Daddy asked Director Bones if he could print that in The Quibbler, but she wants The Daily Prophet to print it first.”
The girls had climbed up to Luna’s bedroom by this time. Luna touched her journal.
“Harry writes to me in this. It’s a linked journal. He writes a page addressed to me, and it appears in my journal as soon as he writes the words in his. I can write back to him. He has asked me not to talk to anyone about most things. He has asked me to pass on some things to my father, and Daddy has put them in The Quibbler, but they didn’t get much attention.”
Luna smiled. “You’ll see more when we get to Hogwarts. Harry doesn’t want people talking about him or anything like that. He says he is odd enough without people pointing at him and whispering about him.”
Ginny was not happy. “I’ll try not to do that.”
Ginny questioned Luna for hours and found out everything that Luna would tell her about Harry.
-ooOOoo-
That night, Ginny wrote in her diary about her talks during the day. She wrote all the details of her talk with Percy and her later one with Luna. The diary was an odd book. She had found it in her cauldron when she got home from shopping in Diagon Alley. It was old, but the pages were blank, and the parchment was unblemished. Ginny decided it must have been mixed up with the second-hand textbooks her mother had bought for her.
It had belonged to someone else, but so had all her other school books. The exceptions were the Lockhart books on her list for Defence Against The Dark Arts, which were all new. Mum had insisted on buying new ones for all the Weasleys. No wonder they had no money in their vault.
Ginny looked at the previous owner’s name on the cover and wondered who he was. The name was ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’.
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