The Train Ride
Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that all characters and story plot from the Harry Potter series belongs to J.K Rowling. I'm merely borrowing them and playing around. Please do review and give constructive feedback. Thanks!
Ron jolted out of his deep sleep, gasping for breath as his nightmare ebbed away. Pushing his sweaty hair from his forehead, he shuddered at the vestige of small spiders climbing out of his chicken soup bowl. It's all a dream. Just a dream. Ron took a deep breath, calming himself as he stared at the canopy above his bed. Soon, fear gave way and excitement bubbled as he realised that today was 1st September. Bloody hell, here I come Hogwarts! He turned and just as well, the door opened and the excited faces of George and Fred popped in.
"Come on Ickle Ronniekins, get up and going," Said George.
"Or, we can just leave you behind!" Fred grinned slyly.
"Shut up," said Ron.
Ron grumbled as he stood to get ready. Just then, "Boys, get down here at once! We are nearly late! Quickly now! "Mum shrieked. Ron jumped and quickly went to wash, snatched Scabbers from his desk, the fat rat still snoozing, and sprinted down the stairs, leaping off the bottom two steps.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! You do not run and jump around like a monkey let loose its cage. Do you hear me?" said mum sternly. Ron meekly nodded and the twins snickered. It was always well when mum tells someone off other than them. Others should get the chance to savour the experience. No use hording it all to themselves. Ron then joined the twins, Ginny and Percy on the table for breakfast, gobbling down the 3 sausages at a go while Ginny looked on in amazement. Percy rolled open the newspaper and started muttering under his breath as he scanned for important titbit.
"Anything worthwhile?" asked George curiously.
"Yeah, the Ministry is cracking down on those who used the illegally sold floo powder, Fly with Floo, and not the Ministry-approved floo powder. I personally find it disgraceful that anyone would want to go against the Ministry and disregard safety—"Percy started imperiously. Ron groaned.
"Percy, we asked for meaningful news—"said George
"Not some claptrap on Floo powder," finished Fred, guffawing.
Percy huffed in annoyance and return to the newspaper in silence. Ron finishing with the sausages, made a move towards the muffins when the clock strike half past ten. Mum twitched and begin hustling all of them to leave the house.
"But, but my muffins—"Ron looked on longingly.
"That's what you get for waking up late. Now, get moving. Move!" Mum waved her wand and the food was stored in the kitchen, looking anxious as she glance at the clock.
Long before they knew it, they were at the train station, quarter past 10. It was teeming with students and parents all rushing to get onto the train at platform 9 ¾. They all hurried towards the platform, Ginny bounding with excitement. Ron felt a rush of exhilaration as he neared platform 10. Finally! Just as Fred and George made a mad dash towards the wall of platform 10, they were interrupted by a small, skinny, bespectacled boy who was clutching a beautiful snowy owl. Ron peered curiously at the boy. No doubt a first- year as well. Ron waited until the boy passed through the wall between platform 9 and 10 before making a run towards it as well.
As he passed, he was disappointed to find that the boy has already disappeared. Sighing, he turned to say bye to his mum when his nose was attacked by a smelly handkerchief.
"Ron, you've got something on your nose." His mum peered closely at his face and scrubbed.
"Mum—get off me." He wriggled loose, face flushed with embarrassment. Looking around, he checked if anyone was watching. He saw Fred and George making their way towards them. Quickly, he escaped from his mother's claws.
"Hey, guess what! The boy we saw just now was Harry Potter!" They exclaimed. Ron gaped.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked and thought, he didn't look like much.
"Ýeah, lightning bolt scar and all," they turned towards the train, trying to catch a glimpse but no such luck.
Turning around, Ron gave a last hug to mum and Ginny before boarding the train. As he walked through the aisle, looking for an empty compartment and lugging his heavy luggage, he wondered where Harry Potter was. Knocking on a door, he slide it open and peeked to see if anybody was occupying it.
"May I sit here? Everywhere else is full," he lied, having not checked all the compartments. Feeling nervous, he grinned sheepishly and heave a sigh of relief as Harry nodded. Collapsing on the seat, he stared at Harry wondering if he is really the Harry Potter. Ron glanced at his forehead, looking for the famous scar before Harry, maybe having known his intention, pulled back his fringe to show him. Ron flushed with embarrassment and hastened to explain.
"Sorry, Fred and George are always joking and I thought it was another of their's—"
"No worries. Everyone has been asking" Harry said, smiling.
"Do you remember anything?" Ron asked eagerly
"Nothing," said Harry, looking uncomfortable. Ron caught on and quickly wracked his brain for another topic, to dispel the awkwardness. Nothing came to mind. Feeling guilty and anxious, he stared out of the window, what do I say, hmmm…maybe quidditch?
Just as Ron opened his mouth to try again, Harry beat him to it.
"Are your family all wizards?"said Harry, finding Ron just as interesting. Ron them remembered the rumours of Harry Potter living with muggles. He wondered how it was living with no magic. He can't imagine doing menial chores like washing dishes and sweeping the floor. It does sound like hard work.
"Yeah, Bill, my eldest brother works as a curse breaker with Gringotss bank. Charlie, the second, is at Romania dealing with dragons. Percy is in Hogwarts, in his fifth year and Fred and George are in their third year. We are a big family. Dad's works at the Ministry, dealing with enchanted muggles items," Ron rambled on, happy to have the chance to talk to remove the silence. Harry listened on, eyes glinting with interest.
"You mean, dragons are real? I didn't know that," said Harry, vibrating excitedly in his seat,
"Blimey! What? Of course dragons are real! Wait a minute, do you really live with muggles?" Ron leaned forward, staring curiously at Harry.
"Yeah, I know nothing about magic. You must know loads of magic. Your whole family is magical. Will it be difficult to catch up?" Harry bit his lips, looking worried.
"Nah, we can't do magic at home. Underage and the ministry monitors. So we all start the same. Don't worry," said Ron reassuringly. He looks depressed. Maybe I'll show him some magic tricks. Liven up the mood a bit. Where is that damn rat? Maybe here. Ron rummaged through his pockets before getting Scabbers out from inside his jacket.
"Here, look at this. This is Scabbers and he's really useless. All he does is sleep and laze around the house. I got it from Percy since mum and dad could not aff—I mean since Percy got a new owl for being a Perfect." Ron's ear turned pink. He felt warm in the face. He didn't mean to let loose about being poor. It just happened. Now Harry is going to think that I am some poor kid trying to suck up to The Boy Who Lived. Ron turned and stare morosely at the window, hoping Harry did not notice the slip up.
"Well, I didn't have money growing up too. See, I live with the Dursley, my relatives and they were horrible. I had to wear Dudley's, my cousin, old, smelly clothes. Did chores and never had a proper birthday present. Dudley got 47 each year and more the following year. Really. Only after Hagrid met me, then I realised that I was a wizard and that my parents were killed by Voldemort," Ron turned, eyebrows raising in incredulity as Harry shared about his life. This is insane. How can the muggles not know about Harry? They sound evil. Not getting presents! That's outrageous! Wait...he just said You-Know-Who's name. Ron gasped. Wow, he's brave. Well, the poor bloke did defeat him. He wondered how Harry did it.
"You said You-Know-Who's name! Do you remember how he looked like? "Ron said, sounding shocked and impressed.
"What? Oh yeah. I'm not trying to be brave or anything but I didn't know we are not supposed to say his name. I bet I will make stupid mistakes in Hogwarts," Harry voiced out his worries, ignoring the other question.
"Well, don't worry! I can help you with that. I'll tell you all about the wizarding world and you'll have nothing to worry about. By the way, there are loads of people who come from muggle families and they do fine," Ron nodded encouragingly. There! I've got something to offer. He can't ignore this. And honestly, Harry got nothing to worry about. I don't know magic as well. Harry smiled, looking relieved. Ron then shared all about Hogwarts, from Quidditch to the four houses and the different subjects. While they had been talking, the train went past London and moved swiftly towards Scotland.
Around half past twelve, the door slid open and a women pushing a trolley filled with an assortment of candies, appeared. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Harry leaped onto his feet and removed his coins as he bought back a handful of candies like Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Droobles's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes and Liquorice Wands. Ron stared, feeling envious. He took out his sandwiches and started peeling the wrappers resignedly.
"Hungry much? " Ron asked as Harry took large bites out of his Pumpkin Pasties.
"Yeah, Starving. Didn't had breakfast this morning," Said Harry.
Ron stared in disgust at the unwrapped corned beef sandwiches. Mum again forgot I hate corned beef. So dry, like sandpaper. Arghh!
"Here do you want some?" asked Harry, having noticed Ron's reluctance for the sandwiches. Ron smiled enthusiastically, grabbed a liquorice wand and leaning contently against the seat. I'll just eat a few and go back to the sandwiches. Feeling guilty, he stashed away the sandwiches into his jacket pocket. Out of sight, out of mind.Grinning, he watched as Harry tried to catch the jumping chocolate frog. Harry is an alright bloke. Not pompous. We'll get along just fine. They tried all the sweets together, laughing as they went through all the flavours in the bag of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, especially, when Ron got the earwax flavour.
"Here, I almost forgot! Let me show some magic. I learnt it form the twins this morning. Want to see?" Ron drew his wand and laid Scabbers on his lap. He felt determined. Let this work. He just raised his wand when there was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy and a girl with wild, bushy hair appeared. The boy looked tearful.
"Have you seen a toad? Neville has lost his," said the girl in a bossy voice, looking at each of their faces.
"Well?" She tapped her feet impatiently as she waited for an answer.
"We've told him we haven't seen it," Ron frowned, feeling irritated with the girl's tone. Who is she to just barge in and demand for answers? Annoying chit. The girl was not listening, instead, she was staring interestingly at the wand in his hand.
"Are you going to do some magic? Let's see it then. Come on!"
Ron looked taken aback. Right, some magic. Okay. What's the incantation again? Oh right, here goes. He cleared his throat, feeling parched all of a sudden.
"Sunshine, daisy, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow," he waved his wand, but nothing happened. His ears turn red. He felt stupid to have believed the twins, they always make a mockery out of him. This is embarrassing.
"Are you sure that is a real spell? Well, it's not very good. I've tried dozens of spell already and read through all the books. It's fascinating isn't it? I have memorized all the spells from The Book Of Charms & Spells Grade 1. I hope it will suffice. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, and you are?" said the girl, looking at Ron and extending her hand.
"Ron Weasley," murmured Ron, looking dazed. She read all the books and memorized spells? Are we supposed to do that? Nobody has mentioned anything! He turned to Harry and felt marginally better at his stunned face. I hope she leaves soon, she bloody sounds like Percy! He shuddered at the mental image of a female Percy roaming around the castle. Bloody hell. As he snapped back to attention, he realised that Hermione was jabbering about reading about Harry in books. Harry was looking more and more discomfit as the one-sided conversation prolonged.
"Well, you two better change. I expect we will be reaching soon," with that, she marched out of the cabin, dragging the boy with her. Both of the boys looking relieved as she left.
"Mental, I wouldn't want to be in the same house as her," Ron said, grabbing another Chocolate Frog.
"So, which house is the best?" asked Harry.
"Well, there is no best house," said Ron contemplatively." But, Gryffindor is where the best people go to. So I suppose that's the best. Ravenclaw is not too bad. Imagine Slytherin, I would rather die."
Just then, the door slid opened again for the third time. This time, three boys entered. A pale boy in the centre, sandwich by two other, huge looking boys. They looked like bodyguards. The pale boy looked appraisingly at Harry, ignoring Ron.
"They are all saying that Harry Potter is in this compartment. Is it you?" he said.
"Yes," Harry answered, looking at the two boys accompanying the pale boy.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and Goyle," said the pale boy, gesturing carelessly. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he said, drawing his chest out. Ron gave a cough, hiding his snigger. Who names their child Draco? Weird. And Crabbe and Gyole looked like gorillas shoved into robes.
"Think my name is funny, do you? You, with red hair and freckles. You must be a Weasley. Father told me all about you lot, having more children than they can afford. The largest blood-traitors ever," Draco sneered, before turning back to Harry.
Ron jumped up to his feet, feeling furious at Malfoy. Nobody insults his family. Especially shit-heads like Malfoy. At his sudden movement, Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckle ominously, scowling menacingly. Ron clutched his wand tightly.
"You will soon find that some Wizarding family are better than the others, Potter. You don't want to be messing with the wrong sort. I can help you there," He held out his hand for Harry to shake. Ron fumed silently, feeling dread pooling in his stomach. Harry might prefer Malfoy. They are rich. I shouldn't have laughed at his name.
"I can tell who the wrong sort are by myself, thanks," Harry rebuffed coolly. Malfoy sneered, swiped down to grab a few Chocolate Frogs before swiftly turning. The compartment door banged loudly as they left.
Ron stared at Harry.
"Er, if you want, you could have joined him. You don't really have to stay. Its fine," said Ron, feeling low. Nobody in their right mind would have chosen to be his friend when Malfoy is there. I mean he is rich and could buy loads of stuff. The latest broomsticks and even decent pets and robes.
"Are you insane? I prefer you ten times over him. Malfoy sounds exactly like Dudley. A bully if I recognised correctly. Plus, I think its cool to have so many siblings and even have a pet rat. Even if all it does is sleep," grinned Harry. Ron blushed, feeling great.
He cleared his throat," Well, you wouldn't want to hang out with Malfoy anyway. All his family are great supporters of You-Know-Who."
"What can I say, I can sort out the wrong sort from the right by myself," Harry smirked, leaning his head on his arms. Ron beamed and thought, thanks mate.
Together, they depart from the train, each with thoughts about the other and a promise of friendship.