Taking into account the convenience of carrying, Evan did not buy too much, but he placed a lot of orders until he had spent all the Gold-Galleons in his pocket. These things would be sent to Hogwarts in batches by the owls at the beginning of school.
By the time they returned to the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, it was close to the evening.
After saying goodbye to his parents, Evan, Harry and the Weasleys used the Floo powder to return to the Burrow. The Masons and the Grangers went back to the Muggle street on the other side of the city. It could be seen that Mr. Weasley wanted very much to follow them out to see what the bus station looked like, but at the look on Mrs. Weasley’s face, he had to give up the idea.
Because it was the first time to use the Floo powder, Evan choked on the ashes of the stove, and after a moment of whirl, he came to the Burrow. Harry was in front of him. Evan saw his face and knew that he felt as bad as himself.
Climbing out of the fireplace, Evan looked around curiously.
That was the first time he came to a wizard’s house. The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle. The clock on the wall had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like Time to make tea, Time to feed the chickens, and You’re late.
Over the mantelpiece was a large mirror. Evan just passed in front of it, and the mirror suddenly shouted, “Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!”
Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One Minute Feasts … It’s Magic! Not far away, next to the sink, there was an old radio.
“All right, kids, go back to your rooms and put the new things in place.” Mrs. Weasley stepped out of the fireplace. She looked at Fred and George and continued, “Especially the two of you, don’t come over and make trouble while I’m preparing dinner.”
“Got it, Mom!” said Fred. “We will be quiet in our room.”
“No sound, just like a house-elf,” said George.
The twins ran out of the kitchen with a smile, and behind them, Percy and Ginny followed up with their own things.
“Come on, I’ll show you my bedroom.” Seeing that Harry and Evan were still standing in the same place, Ron pushed them.
The three of them slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow passageway to an uneven staircase, which wound its way, zigzagging up through the house.
A door on the first landing of the staircase was half open. Percy was sitting at his desk, writing a letter with a newly bought feather quill. Not far from him was a very beautiful brown owl.
“That’s the owl my parents bought Percy when he was made prefect,” said Ron. “But he refused to lend it me. In fact, he’s been acting very oddly this summer. He’s been a load of time alone in his room, and sending a lot of letters.”
“It’s no surprise. Your brother has a new girlfriend.”
“Oh, my God!” Ron looked surprised when he heard Evan’s words. Some words were incoherent. “But that’s Percy. Who will look at him? I mean… Of course, he’s very ambitious. He’s got it all planned out, he wants to be Minister of Magic, but… I want to tell Fred and George about this and see what they say.”
“Don’t get excited, it’s just my guess.” Evan’s reaction to Ron was sluggish and calm.
On the third landing, a door stood ajar. Evan just caught sight of a pair of bright brown eyes staring at him before it closed with a snap.
“It’s Ginny!” said Ron. “It’s incredible. You don’t know, she never shuts up normally!”
“Obviously, your sister is a little shy when she sees Harry.”
Evan looked at the door and thought about how to get Tom Riddle’s diary from Ginny.
“Yeah, she’s been talking about you all summer.” Ron looked at Harry with uncertainty. “Fred said she wants your autograph, maybe you should give her one.”
“Don’t be silly, Ron.” said Evan as he walked. “It’s not a simple worship. Your sister likes Harry. She wants to be his girlfriend.”
“Evan!”
Ron looked frightened. Harry beside him was unnatural, blushing like a ripe apple, pretending not to hear the conversation between Evan and Ron.
“Well, this is all nonsense.” Evan put his hand over his forehead. These two guys were equally dull really pure. No wonder they could almost not find a partner in the fourth-year Christmas ball.
They climbed one more flight and stood outside the twins’ room. The door was closed. It was really quiet inside. There was no sound at all. They didn’t know what they were doing.
When the three climbed to the top floor and came to the door with peeling paint, there was a small plaque on it, saying “RONALD’S ROOM.”
Evan and Harry stepped in, their heads almost touching the sloping ceiling.
It was like walking into a furnace. Nearly everything in Ron’s room seemed to be a violent shade of orange: the bedspread, the walls, even the ceiling.
Then Evan realized that Ron had covered nearly every inch of the shabby wallpaper with posters of the same seven witches and wizards, all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks, and waving energetically.
“Your Quidditch team?” asked Harry.
“The Chudley Cannons, ninth in the league!” said Ron, pointing at the orange bedspread, which was emblazoned with two giant C’s and a speeding cannonball.
The two of them continued to talk about Quidditch, while Evan looked curiously at the gray-haired fat rat, Scabbers, who was snoozing in the corner of the room.
Ignoring Evan’s gaze, Scabbers continued to snore.
Evan observed him for a while and found no difference. If he hadn’t known that it was an Animagus, he would have really thought that Scabbers was a little rat with a depilated body, a missing toe, and a lack of energy, sleeping all day.
“Bang, bang!” The sound of a pipe being knocked suddenly came down from above and startled Evan.
“Don’t worry; it’s the ghoul in the attic. He’s always banging on the pipes and groaning.” Ron explained, “I wanted to drive it away, but Dad didn’t let me. He thinks it’s funny.”
As Ron said, life in the Burrow was very interesting.
Over the next month, Evan and Harry followed Fred, George and Ron to the backyard to clean up the garden from the gnomes. They went to the back hills to ride brooms and practice Quidditch.
In the evening, Harry and Ron were busy finishing their summer homework, and Evan was used to going to Percy to ask for some knowledge. Percy was excellent in almost every subject, especially in the History of Magic and Charms, and had unique insights.
As for Fred and George, Evan had a chance to talk with them and found that the twins’ inventions were still in their infancy. After he made several suggestions according to his memory, they locked themselves in the room at night for research and made various noises from time to time..
Over the course of a month, Harry and Evan became acquainted with the Weasleys.
Mrs. Weasley mended their socks, and forced them to eat fourth helpings at every meal. Mr. Weasley kept asking them about Muggle life.
Apart from Ginny, everyone quickly adapted to Harry and Evan’s integration into their family life. To be precise, it seemed that as long as Harry was present, Ginny always bumped something nervously, but when she was alone with Evan, she was very normal.
Because of the same age, Evan and Ginny got along very well, but until the last day of summer vacation, he still didn’t get Tom Riddle’s diary from her.
Evan hinted several times, but Ginny did not respond. He couldn’t explain clearly, and he couldn’t really go to Ginny’s room to find it. Evan was not even sure if she has found the diary, or she had found it, but she didn’t tell him about it.
But he was not in a hurry. There was still time. The worst outcome was to follow the plot development. And then, poor Ginny might suffer a little.
But to have the chance to be saved by Harry, the hero was not a bad thing for this little girl who had a crush on him.
