Hogwarts' Golden Glory

"Because they don't have magic, Dad."

Ginny whispered, her face as red as her hair.

"Ah, right!" Mr. Weasley slapped his forehead and then sat down next to Harry.

"Speaking of magic, Harry, have you seen this before?"

He pulled a plug from his pocket; the wires had been cut. "I've been studying its internals..."

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley tapped the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. "Stop fiddling with your Muggle junk at the table. Harry, add some more scrambled eggs."

Harry had already eaten two plates of food, but under Mrs. Weasley's unyielding gaze, he picked up his spoon again.

This was the first lesson he learned at the Burrow—refusing Mrs. Weasley's food was harder than fighting Voldemort.

After breakfast, Harry went with Ron and the twins to the backyard to feed the chickens.

The backyard of the humble dwelling was as unpretentious as its owner—a crooked fence surrounded a vegetable garden, an old apple tree leaned against the chicken coop, and various magical devices of unknown purpose were scattered under the tree.

"Watch out for that," George said, pointing to a blue-glowing metal ball on the ground. "That's one of Dad's 'Muggle Electrical Research Projects,' which almost blew Fred's ear off last week."

They were about to scatter the leftover breadcrumbs to the chickens when they suddenly heard a scream from the kitchen.

"Merlin's beard!" Mrs. Weasley's voice was filled with surprise. "It's him! It really is him!"

The twins exchanged a glance, immediately dropped their bread, and rushed back into the house.

Harry and Ron followed closely behind and found Mrs. Weasley holding a copy of The Witches' Weekly, her cheeks flushed with an unusual blush.

"Look, kids!" She turned the magazine toward them; the cover featured a wizard with gleaming white teeth and flowing blond hair, flashing a charming smile at the camera.

Gilderoy Lockhart has a new book out! "A Year with the Yeti of Tibet!"

"It's him again?" Ron muttered to himself. "Mom's bookshelf is full of his books."

Mrs. Weasley didn't hear her; she was engrossed in reading the inside pages: "'Exclusive Interview: Gilderoy Shares His Beauty Secrets'... Oh, he's amazing, accomplishing so many incredible adventures all by himself..."

"I bet all those adventures were made up," Fred said in a low voice.

"He even writes three chapters about how to defeat a little elf," George chimed in.

But Mrs. Weasley was completely absorbed in the magazine: "He said to face all dangers with a smile...what a courageous philosophy!"

That evening, Harry discovered that the living room bookshelves were indeed filled with Lockhart's books, each one carefully covered by Mrs. Weasley.

As he casually picked up a copy of "Vacation with a She-Devil," a bookmark fell out—written in cursive script: "To dear Molly, may my adventures bring you joy. Sincerely, Gilderoy Lockhart."

“My mom attended his book signing last year,” Ron said, appearing behind her unexpectedly. “She queued for six hours and came back looking like she was under a spell.”

Over the next few days, Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley would hum the "favorite tune" Lockhart had mentioned in an interview while cooking.

They even tried making a "Lohart-style seafood chowder" according to a magazine recipe—which resulted in the whole family making at least ten trips to the toilet.

"Next time she's this infatuated with an author," George said, rubbing his stomach in pain, "we'll have to hide the magazine beforehand."

A week later, one morning, Harry and Ron dragged their heavy steps downstairs.

The night before, they played "magic chess" with the twins until the early hours of the morning—and found the atmosphere in the kitchen unusually excited.

"A letter from the school!" Mr. Weasley waved two yellow envelopes. "Just delivered by the Ministry of Magic's official owl."

Harry took the envelope, and the familiar green handwriting warmed his heart: Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Albus Dumbledore (President of the International Confederation of Wizards, Archmage Merlin, First Master Wizard of Wizengamor)

"He actually remembers that I'm here..." Harry said softly, his fingertips lightly tracing the parchment.

"Dumbledore knows a lot of things," Mr. Weasley blinked, "like who secretly converted the flying carpet into a race car."

The twins pretended not to hear and focused intently on studying their letter.

Harry opened the envelope; inside, besides the school opening notice, there was also a book list.

When he read the list of books, he almost choked on his own saliva.

"Are they all Gilderoy Lockhart's books?"

He looked up in disbelief and saw Mrs. Weasley's face beaming with joy.

"Let me see!" She grabbed the book list. "Breaking Up with the Female Ghost, Traveling with Ghouls, Vacationing with a She-Devil... Oh! And the new 'A Year with the Tibetan Yeti'!"

Her voice trembled with excitement, "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a person of great taste!"

Ron made a vomiting face, but was quickly interrupted by his mother's excited hug.

"We can go to Diagon Alley together!" Mrs. Weasley was already planning. "How about tomorrow? I can take Ginny to buy her first wand, and while we're at it..."

Her eyes swept over the book list. "Buy all the textbooks."

"Those books aren't cheap," Mr. Weasley said worriedly, looking at the long list of books.

"We can figure something out," Mrs. Weasley said firmly.

But Harry noticed her discreetly touching her worn-out sleeves. "Some of Ginny's things can be bought secondhand, and I can wear my cloak for another year..."

Just then, Percy strode into the kitchen and plopped down in a chair.

Then he screamed and jumped up. A drab gray owl wobbled out from under his bottom, looking like it might die at any moment.

"Errol!" Ron rushed over and rescued the Weasley family's old owl.

It pulled a letter from under its wing. "It's Hermione's reply!"

When Ron read aloud Hermione's question about Harry's safety.

Harry felt a warm current flow through his body.

During his time at the Burrow, he almost forgot about the Dursleys' existence—there were endless socks to mend, countless Muggle questions to ask, food that Mrs. Weasley insisted he add, and genuine concern from his friends.

"We're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow anyway," Mrs. Weasley said, clearing the dishes.

"I can meet Hermione. Now, who's willing to help me weed the goblins?"

The family then began weeding.

It's clear that Mrs. Weasley is really looking forward to tomorrow's shopping trip.

Fred and George actually dug up a Galleon in the field.

These Galleons were then used as shopping funds for tomorrow.