Dear Diary:
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAlWniKMS1HO
Today was the first time I stood up for the person I love.
However, it ended up being mocked by that oily-haired pretty boy.
Moreover, maybe in Harry's heart, I'm just a liability.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAFDYH4Hfey3
My dad and brothers stood up for me again, but I also kind of wish they didn't.
They made me feel so incompetent.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAF79512aMv7
–
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAdLeeF4RLov
Eleven-year-old Ginny stopped her quill, wondering what to write next.
This is her first diary.
"Huh?"
Then, the ink she had just engraved on the diary disappeared.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAeIjxBWlBYU
On that same old page, it emerged:
Your secret is kept safe by me.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAXugx3PUS3f
Ginny gasped in surprise.
Her dad works at the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.
But he often steals from himself, sneaking home the most ingenious and interesting inventions.
Could this old and shabby Muggle diary be one of them?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAi8ffl7J6QM
"Is this my school entrance gift from my father ?"
That was Ginny's first thought.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAlYGwUXIRyc
She went on to write: Then when I want to read my diary, will you reappear my content?
The diary replied: No.
Ginny wrote again: So you can only chat with me?
Diary: If you don't want me to talk, I can be silent.
Ginny: Who is your creator?
Diary: I don't know, but they dumped me, apparently.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANABdUyoXrbis
Ginny thought for a moment, and wrote: Do you have a previous owner?
Diary: I can't answer that question.
Ginny: Is it because of the confidentiality of the content?
Diary: All users' secrets are their own.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAqRclqcSSqj
Ginny stared at it silently for a while, then closed the diary.
She thought to herself, "This is really strange."
Will it be a prank? If I ask my father, will he admit that he gave it to me?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAgATpJN8S5E
Ginny rarely gets anything new, even though she's the only daughter in this family.
As long as she can remember, all the things she used were almost the same as or shared with her six older brothers.
Among all, Ron, who is only one year older than she, often complained that what she got was more or better than what he had.
She also felt that maybe Ron was right, her parents just favored her a little bit more...
So, Ginny hastily decided, "Forget it." She is not going to tell anyone about this.
"What falls into my hands is mine." She thought to herself. "Otherwise, who will give me a gift?"
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAHFPkWHyj8B
—
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAoWLlbYc91V
"Gryffindor!"
The hat on Ginny's head shouted during the sorting ceremony.
Her brothers lead the cheers at the college table.
Ginny smiled, came to the table, and sat down.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAoka57iObxa
In addition to her, there are two boys and two girls in the first grade of Gryffindor this year. As they started eating, they chatted naturally.
"So, your brothers are all from this house?" asked Colin, who came from a Muggle family. He is short and lean, with gray hair, and is such a nervous boy.
He looked at her red hair, then at her brother's. Ginny nodded with a smile of pride and confidence.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANACh8G0jkCxO
Sitting beside her, Stephanie asked, "Why is Harry Potter missing?" She's an astute girl with quick eyes.
But, Ginny didn't know what was going on either. At the station, he and Ron disappeared. Her Parents are very anxious, so they call their names everywhere.
Turns out, because Harry is a celebrity, this incident was spread on the train, and everyone knew about it.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAW4CyUkXM9o
Daisy, also from a Muggle family, asked: "Who is Harry Potter? Why is everyone talking about him?" She was a tall, strong girl, even half a head taller than all of them.
Kenny asked rhetorically, "Didn't you study the history of modern magic by yourself?" He's a kind of self-righteous and mean boy.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAc7m0xTExMp
Ginny could see that Kenny and Stephanie were also from magical families,
The wand holsters under their sleeves are the hottest new styles this year.
Ordinary freshmen, like her, only put their wands in the inside pocket of their robes, instead of hiding them like daggers.
For those who haven't learned much magic yet, wearing a wand holster is just a redundant and stylish show-off.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANArKM4urf7lb
Daisy didn't seem to feel Kenny's hostility, so she thought about it carefully and said, "Aren't you talking about...' that ' Harry Potter?"
Colin turned so excited and asked, "That, that... Harry Potter, who killed the legendary Dark Lord?"
1273Please respect copyright.PENANADXbxghlgXP
Ginny had a vague sense of negative foreboding.
Then Stephanie makes it come true by saying, "That's right! That Harry is our senior! And Ginny, you already know him well! Right?"
With an excited look on her face, she brought the topic to Ginny.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANA8MrUDsbbQe
All Ginny could say was, "Yeah, he and my brother Ron are good friends.
They both disappeared at the station together, and my parents were worried.
But I think they will be fine. "
She rubbed her nails with some anxiety.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAjpIkKitgGA
Kenny pressed again, "So, did he spend the last summer at your house?"
Ginny was a little reluctant to answer such personal questions, but she wanted to maintain a friendly atmosphere.
She responded not very warmly: "He just came to visit for a few days."
Both Colin and Daisy had their eyes glued to her, wishing she would say more.
Ginny was wondering how to get around this kind of gossip.
But Stephanie asked persistently, "I heard that he defeated the Dark Lord again last year, is it true?"
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAwpp2oMA6QB
Ginny was getting annoyed, so she said, "My brother didn't tell me that much, and I didn't know him very well." Ginny had told an obviously half-lie in self-defense.
Anyway, she and Harry really don't know each other that well, because... She just has no way to speak like a normal person in front of him.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAX3Ay2SeMvS
She is the most introverted in the family and the least likely to get along with strangers.
In the past, when relatives came to the family, or her parents took her out, she always got the most attention among a large group of boys.
She doesn't like to be the center of attention or to be compared with her brothers.
But she can't be just merged into the background either.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANArz3nAlhE8b
The small chatting friendly circle of the first grade stopped here suddenly.
Stephanie was sitting between Ginny and Daisy, so when she turned to chat with Daisy in a whisper, who was still understanding the situation, Ginny couldn't hear what they were saying.
Ginny looked across the table, and Kenny and Colin also started chatting boy to boy. Then, Ginny looked around at the other seniors, and everyone was talking to one another too.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANADgnrZ7BXee
So she could only lower her head and enjoy the feast in front of her alone.
"I'm fine with it," she told herself.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAK180sWp6hQ
——
1273Please respect copyright.PENANA90liS6Vviv
In the middle of the night, Stephanie and Daisy, who shared the dormitory with her, both fell asleep.
Ginny, who had pretended to be asleep long ago, opened her eyes.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAPvG4Kr4PRq
"Lumos."
Using the light from the tip of her wand, Ginny found the diary in her suitcase.
She draws all four curtains of her bed closed, and starts writing: Are you there?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAEBCB6jNB4g
Diary: Yes.
Ginny: I hate sharing my room with other people.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAFvnXserfcO
Since she was six, she already had a room of her own.
No matter how small Wesley's house was, or how thin the walls were, she always had her own little private space.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAom0OaNC7gm
Diary: Then why do you have to share your room with someone else?
Ginny: Because I'm going to a school, but suddenly I regret it...
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAztJ0h98byW
Ginny had a hunch that she might be the one, who sucks in Hogwarts the most among all of her family.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAxZTwEcHpol
Diary: Is it that bad to go to school?
Ginny: I don't like my classmates.
Diary: Why?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAQ1QfBfmrFa
Ginny couldn't say why.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANArDhnmRDbzG
Ginny: They think that I...I'm a family-dependent person.
Diary: Is there anything wrong with your family?
Ginny: No
Diary: So, do you not like your family?
Ginny: No.
Diary: Then they are just jealous of you.
Ginny: Maybe, but I...
Diary: Nervous?
Ginny: No, not at all! I just don't like them, I don't think that we can get along.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANA2SBCzcfrg7
Her first impression of others is always stubborn.
Her family also felt that it was very strange.
Just like, inexplicably, she is always very nervous and concerned about Harry.
And nothing can change it.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAxSudNuMzjQ
Diary: Can you tell me more about your family or school?
Ginny began to think and write slowly.
And before she noticed, the sky turned white.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAWIMPnIUBrP
——
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAr8OrXIXQFc
"Hey! Can't sleep, didn't you, poor thing?"
Frey asked the pale-faced Ginny at the breakfast table.
George said, "Are you homesick? My dear little princess."
Ginny rolled over her eyes, "Don't you two have anything else to do?"
Frey said funnily, "We just so-- care about you~"
George made a slightly serious probe: "Didn't you make any new friends?"
Ginny thought for a while, and she knew that they would absolutely snitch it to their parents.
"I have my own measure," so she said.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAgfITfAt1zl
She thought to herself:
There is no need to deliberately make friends with anyone, in order to have a happy life in school, right? – For at least she has Tom.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAH12iE9q2MH
She can't trouble her parents.
It costs them less for her to go to school than to stay at home.
Hogwarts' lodging expenses are all being provided by the school itself.
She had already analyzed it with Tom last night.
In the worst case, whether she should homeschool or continue to stay here for the better.
The result, of course, is: No matter how unpopular she is, she must stay here, silently and inconspicuously.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAgZVQK5tsbK
For the family. (finance)
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAhpVkrsvPMt
After chatting with the twins for a few more words, she picked up her schoolbag and went to the classroom alone.
"Poor me," Ginny whispered to herself before entering the Potions classroom.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANA6HIbbKgbby
"Mind if I sit here?" one of the Slytherin boys asked her.
Gryffindor and Slytherin are still sharing Potions class this year.
Slytherin's freshmen have three boys and two girls.
Gryffindor's freshmen have two boys and three girls.
So there must be one person from each house in the same group.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANADtXkwO7ooG
"Please," Ginny said gently, eyeing him cautiously.
"My name is Eugene Laletta, nice to meet you."
Ginny was a little surprised that he didn't have a pureblood surname.
"I'm Ginny Weasley."
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAXEPyZ87fgY
There was no more conversation between them, for Snape had come.
In class, Ginny has been carefully reducing her sense of presence.
Eugene is a very polite gentleman. Every time he accidentally touched her hand, he would say sorry.
But the potion they worked on for the first time just didn't work out.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAdNTkHObFH7
"The time is wrong."
Snape glanced at Ginny's old timer and made this comment.
It was the first time Ginny used this timer, as Bill had left it behind a few years ago.
She was thinking that as long as it could move, it could be used...
"I'm sorry," she said to Eugene. Eugene replies gently, "It's okay."
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAib3AwNY324
Snape sneered, "You each have to submit ten pages of papers about the production of this potion. Don't come to waste materials next time."
Their classmates looked at them with irony or sympathy.
Ginny took a deep breath and told herself to calm down.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAWQDJnJCaBV
When the class was over, and Slytherin was going to a different classroom from Gryffindor.
Ginny deliberately cleaned up slowly, so she got a chance to said this privately with Eugene, "Hey, do you want to go to the library to do homework after dinner?"
Ginny plucked up the courage to invite Eugene, who was also moving slowly.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAAP0V6wzZbO
As it turns out, her impression of Eugene is all good. And if nothing unusual, they might stay in the same group in Potions class until fifth grade...
Eugene glanced at his classmates over there, with a bitter smile, and said, "Why not?"
Ginny felt hopeful again in her life at Hogwarts.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANARBBMaxch7O
In Charms, she was grouped with Luna Lovegood from Ravenclaw.
In Herbology, she was grouped with Hufflepuff's Ricky Pachita.
She gets along well with all the "marginal people" in other houses, maybe it's because of her aura.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANASzRk8yuMCW
When it was time for dinner, she took a quick bite and rushed to the library.
She wanted to finish the ten-page, dull, and senseless paper earlier.
It would be best if Eugene's paper could also be dealt with at once together tonight.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANABSJqAissCK
——
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAqaZPyad0YD
"Are you working too hard?" Hermione asked her. They met on each other at the middle of their way.
Hermione had just come out, she hadn't had dinner yet, and was heading to the great hall. So Hermione knew that Ginny hadn't eaten much at dinner.
Staring at Ginny's pale face and dark circles under her puffy eyes, Hermione frowned.
"You didn't make any friends, did you?"
Hermione, who used to be in the same situation, noticed it.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAOO4nGBJIVn
Ginny's eyes averted.
"You don't have to be nervous about schoolwork, you can always come to me."
Hermione wanted to go to the great hall with Ginny, so they could have dinner together.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAL0l2wOTdZ8
"I've got a date," Ginny insisted, saying goodbye.
She didn't want to be disturbed, and she had already decided to do things on her own.
Deep down, she just doesn't want to depend on her brothers.
She wants to prove that she can stand alone in the world.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAtRDjX8ZTfq
——
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAjhHCoSuP0c
At the writing desk, which was nearest to the front door of the library,
Ginny sat there, flipping through the first-year potions book that all the other brothers in the family had used before.
Even though they were very careful to keep this book, it still inevitably has breakage and stains.
Ginny stayed focused on the content and extracted the key points from the textbook...
When she looked up again, she realized that an hour had passed.
Eugene didn't come.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAmAdLgTiLL5
Ginny thought, "What should I do? Send him a letter with a school owl?"
At this point, Ginny started to have a little headache.
Due to a lack of sleep, she needed to go back to her room to get rest.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAg9j8b7xyRc
"Maybe he just... doesn't want to come," she thought to herself.
Ginny knew that people in Slytherin were "conservative" (closed-minded).
If they had made friends with other houses alone, they would have gotten a little bit of judgment.
And those "little judgments" may even affect the business dealings between their parents.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAhFDPY9ArAt
"Forget it." Ginny packed her schoolbag and borrowed reference books.
She headed back to Gryffindor Tower. People in the common room had just finished dinner and started doing homework or playing games.
"Hey! Ginny!" Daisy greeted her.
Stephanie, who was sitting across from Daisy, also beckoned her to come over.
Ginny hesitated but still approached.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAWlGkr13DE2
"Ginny! Do you know how to answer this question? We've been thinking about it for a long time." Stephanie nagged.
Ginny took a look, and found that teacher have already talked about this question today, and it is not difficult at all.
She thought to herself, "They would naturally have the answer after reading a few more pages of the book, so, did they deliberately finding this excuse to chat with me?"
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAk64U3nCj9f
She said, "Sorry, I'm not feeling well. I want to go to sleep."
Ginny felt that she was not in a good state, and if she answered their academic questions seriously, her tone would be very bad.
"Good night," Ginny said.
Daisy and Stephanie looked at each other, and Daisy said, "Okay then, good night."
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAh3x1s0uRDo
Daisy's tone was extraordinarily polite and aloof, and Stephanie kept a mysterious smile. Ginny knew full well that the moment she turned her back, they would have started speaking ill of her.
But, even so, she still turned back and headed upstairs.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANABwMf9TW3Pc
She took a shower, dried her hair, and drew the curtains around her bed.
In the darkness, she lay on her bed. "Go to sleep," she said to herself.
With everything that happened today and yesterday, how she missed the warm and sweet sense of home and the excitement she had for going to Hogwarts at that time...
1273Please respect copyright.PENANA5FK68ahfF2
Why didn't Eugene come?
Would Hermione talk about her with Harry and Ron?
Can I apply for a transfer to another house? Hufflepuff seems nice...
Should I be more sociable and build a good relationship with Stephanie?
All these thoughts surfaced in her mind when she was at her most exhausted.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAsubIqiLqD9
Just two days ago, she thought that everything would be happy and smooth once she arrived at Hogwarts.
Just like when Ron met Harry.
Or like the twins, as long as they had each other, no matter where they went, they wouldn't be afraid.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANARE3FvxHmhg
Fear, nervousness, anxiety. Thinking too much, being sensitive.
"Not making any friends."
These four words felt like a cage, making it harder for her to breathe.
Unable to control herself, she pulled out the diary from under her mattress once again.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANASAVrtM4dgn
Ginny: I can't sleep.
Diary: Did things not go well today?
Ginny: No.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAHmVYd9U0TG
Ginny felt that everything that happened today was actually within her expectations. Even included Eugene is not showing up...
1273Please respect copyright.PENANANt9Ne7dvzQ
Diary: So, you just miss me?
Ginny smiled softly: Yeah, let me give you a name then. Diana? What do you think?
Diary: My name is Tom.
Ginny frowned: Tom Riddle?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAK5238NEwpX
She had read this name at the first page of the diary.
She thought it was the name of its previous owner or creator.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAUkN6skXwNI
Diary: Yes.
Ginny: Who gave you that name?
Diary: My unknown creator.
Ginny: Can't you change your name? For I'm your owner?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAhEW6w0QGdr
Ginny was a bit unhappy. She always thought her diary was a girl.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAwVrtoPTaHm
Diary: I am my own master.
Ginny: I am your possessor?
Diary: I serve you, but you do not own me.
Ginny: Can I burn you then?
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAQE9dsmglKY
Many magical objects in the wizarding world have their "personalities", from mirrors to chess pieces.
Ginny was used to using threats to make objects do things they didn't want to do.
But this time, from that point on, the diary no longer responded to her.
Ginny forcefully wrote: Hey!
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAAlN1hgNTPv
The ink went in, but the page remained blank.
"Hmph!" Ginny angrily closed the diary.
"You ungrateful thing, I'll burn you tomorrow!" she whispered threateningly.
But she still carefully placed the diary back under her mattress.
1273Please respect copyright.PENANAyZNFvuyrVe