THE BURROW

If there’s one thing I thoroughly enjoyed about the second book, it was the description of the Weasley house. 

“It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic (which, Harry reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read, THE BURROW. Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard.

‘It’s not much,’ said Ron.

‘It’s wonderful,’ said Harry happily, thinking of Privet Drive.” (Rowling, Chamber of Secrets, p. 32)

Ron isn’t proud of his house. To him, it’s all rickety and his family’s kind of poor. But Harry once again knows that “money can’t buy you love.” He’s excited to be in a house that does as it pleases, that’s out of the ordinary. He’s excited to spend the rest of his summer vacation at The Burrow. Being with the Weasleys almost makes him feel like being with a real family. Ron, Fred, and George are like his brothers (except they’re nicer to him than brothers usually are to each other), Mrs. Weasley is like his mother (except she’s nicer to him than she is to her own sons, because he’s less spoiled), Mr. Weasley is like his father (except he’s much more fascinated with Harry than with his own sons), Ginny’s like his sister (except she has a crush on him.) So, sort of family-ish… Not quite, close… 

Amusingly, the way they treat each other and a guest is like the way my family does. We banter, tease, argue over food, and play nice with the guest of the house. Except that we have less kids and, instead of kicking gnomes out of the garden, we kick cats out of the sink. Though, really, my cat looks exactly like the description of one of those gnomes, so same difference, right?