Prologue
Hello, this is just the- well, the prologue of my newest idea. I know it's a clichéd topic, but still, I thought it would be fun. This one takes place in the sixth book, post- Lavender, pre- Love Potion.
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were walking through the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on a perfect Sunday evening. Hermione was in the front, avoiding Ron, who was in the back.
"Lousy ankle," muttered Ron, and he walked forward quickly, ignoring the pain he had for some reason been getting there.
"You should really see Madam Pomfrey about that, she'd fix it in a heartbeat," said Harry, who turned on the spot to face Ron. "Pretty soon it'll be a sprain."
"Yeah, alright," said Ron. He grimaced in pain. "I'll do that soon- ouch."
Hermione sniggered from the front.
"Hermione-" started Harry, but Hermione sniffed loudly to tell him to stop.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Why does she even come with us…?" he muttered to himself.
"Hey, Harry?" said Hermione suddenly.
"What is it?" Harry asked, stepping up to meet her. Ron stood next to Harry.
"What is Professor Firenze doing out on the grounds? He never goes outside in the evenings, and especially not this close to the forest…"
Harry nodded. "That's true… should we tell him?"
"I'll bet he knows," said Hermione. "He's very smart… or so I've heard. I haven't spoken with him much, seeing as-"
"You dropped Divination because you were awful at it, you know it's true," said Ron. Hermione whirled around on the spot. "Excuse me?"
"I said-"
Ron was quickly interrupted. "I know what you said, Won-Won, but if you're not speaking to me, you might as well-"
"I'm not speaking to you? You're not speaking to me!"
"Argh!" shouted Hermione, and she stormed off. Harry followed close behind, obviously annoyed at both of his friends.
"Wait, Harry!" yelled Ron, and he tried to run. His ankle pains kicked in again, and he collapsed on the ground and hit his knee on a rock.
Ron lay in the same spot for several minutes, not saying anything. He thought about his anger at his ankle, which he was sure was hurting from Quidditch practice, and he thought about his anger at Hermione, and at Lavender Brown, who wouldn't leave him alone, and about his anger at Firenze, who taught one of the most frustrating subjects…
Finally, he crawled up to his knees and glared at the rock he had hit his knee on. It was strangely brown, and had an 'X' carved into it. He picked it up and looked at the dirt hole that was left there. Ron whipped out his wand.
"'X' marks the spot," Ron muttered, and he pointed his wand at the dirt and thought, Defodio!
By some stroke of luck, the spell did what it was supposed to. The dirt was shoved away, and a large hole in the ground was left. A plank of wood was left at the bottom. After several more Gouging Spells, a wooden chest was left at the bottom. Ron heaved it out and opened it (it was unlocked). Inside, there was a large potion bottle filled with a strange blue liquid. There was a small piece of parchment attached to the bottle, that seemed to be a note to the person who intended to use the potion. It said:
Wishing Potion- Save for Dumbledore
Ron stared at the potion anxiously. Wishing Potion? That could come in handy. But on the other hand, if it was some sort of trap, it might kill him. It did say 'save for Dumbledore', and there was already somebody who had tried to kill Katie Bell. Ron took a risk. He uncorked the bottle and gulped down the entire thing in one drink. He gasped and stared at the empty bottle.
"Now what?" he asked himself, after glancing up to see that nobody had seen him. He looked around nervously.
Guess it won't kill me… he thought to himself. Well… can I make a wish?
Ron began to think of what he desperately wanted. He wanted Hermione to talk to him again… he wanted a break from Lavender Brown… he wanted to be good at potions… and then it came to him.
"I wish I could swap places with Harry!" he murmered, and waited for the results. Suddenly, Harry came running down the green fields of the grounds to catch up with him.
"Sorry, mate," said Harry. "Hermione's gone back to the common room. I just-"
Seemingly out of nowhere, he fell unconscious and collapsed on the ground. Ron barely had time to say, "Harry?" before fainting himself.
