Metanoia • Harry Potter • Book I

Chapter Three

Getting owls was strange when you lived in a Muggle neighbourhood. Keziah started in confusion as a large, tawny creature flew through the open window and settled haughtily in the middle of the breakfast table. There were three letters secured around its claws.

"Hogwarts letters!" Daphne cried, excitedly. She leaned over immediately, abandoning to grab her parchment and tore it open without regard.

Keziah watched in concern, looking back at the open window which the birds had flown through.

"Won't Muggles see the owl?" she asked in confusion. "It just flew in — in broad daylight!"

Astoria scoffed around her breakfast as she read her own letter. The girl would be starting Hogwarts this year, Keziah realised.

"Of course not," Astoria said. "Muggles only see what they want to, don't they? They'll probably see the owl but they won't see him come in here."

The three girls looked over to Ms Walsh for confirmation. She nodded, scratching the owl gently as she untied Keziah's letter.

"Us wizards are a strange breed, dear," she said sagely. "Don't think about it too hard."

Daphne and Astoria grinned in agreement. Then Daphne inhaled sharply, before half-choking.

"Daphne!" Ms Walsh cried, thumping her daughter on the back. "Eat slowly."

"Mum," she gasped. "Look at this! They want us to buy all of Gilderoy Lockhart's books. That's ridiculous."

Ms Walsh's eyebrows had settled somewhere around her hairline as she read through the booklist, her mouth moving silently with the words. The paper was crunched at the edges when she was finished reading.

"Two sets of these books!" she said in astonishment. "What does your school think we make? We're not all Malfoys embezzling and bribing the government."

Keziah and Daphne eyed each other.

"If they think I'm paying for all this on top of Astoria's robes and wand and her other things..." Ms Walsh muttered, setting down her plate. "I've got to go sort something out girls, excuse me."

As soon as Ms Walsh left the room, Daphne stared disgustedly down at the booklist. Even Astoria looked far less excited as she dejectedly ate her food in silence.

"How much are Lockhart's books anyway?" Keziah asked. She'd always been curious about the answer.

"Thirty-five galleons," Daphne growled. "Around one hundred and seventy-five pounds in Muggle money."

Keziah's jaw dropped.

"They can't seriously expect us to pay that much for a stupid set of books," she said in disbelief.

"What I'm wondering is who Dumbledore hired that could be such a spaz that they make us buy this stuff?"

"I have a few ideas," Keziah mumbled under her breath.

Daphne gave her a strange look but was interrupted by another owl swoop into the kitchen. It was a familiar snowy white with beaming pale eyes.

"Hedwig," Keziah said in excitement, untangling herself from the chair and stroking the owl. She hooted fondly, nipping Keziah's fingers as she offered the letter in her beak. "Harry got something for me?"

It had been nearly two weeks since Keziah had seen or heard from her brother and she hated to admit it but she missed him. Seeing Hedwig made a ballon of excitement swell in her chest. He hadn't forgotten about her.

She opened the letter hurriedly, eyes moving over the familiar loops of Harry's handwriting.

'Hey, Keziah,