"There, look"
"Where?"
"Next to the kid with the glasses"
"Did you see his face?"
"Did you see his scar?"
Whispers followed Ron the moment he left the dormitory the next day. People outside of classes would tiptoe to look at him or double back the corridors to pass him; Ron liked the attention...for about ten minutes before it got annoying.
Ron had heard that there were a hundred and forty two staircases in Hogwarts of all sorts, along with a wide assortment of doors, ghosts, moving portraits, armours and one annoying caretaker accompanied by his cat. The whole castle was like a giant maze to Ron.
The classes were no cakewalk either, Ron hadn't realised how much work there would be in learning magic, studying the night skies in astronomy, growing plants in herbology, studying the history of magic.
The teachers were quite an assorted bunch as well, Flitwick was a tiny man who stood over a pile of books to look over the desk, McGonagall was stern and scary, Binns was boring and seemed detached from his surroundings while Quirell was a bit of a letdown with his stuttering.
On Friday, harry and Ron found the great hall in one try, a big achievement for them. "So what do we have first today?" harry asked Ron who replied "double potions with Slytherin's"
"Fuck" harry swore making a few people look at him before looking away, "mate, you need to calm down" Ron told harry
"I can't" harry replied "Snape has had it in for me since the day I was born"
"Aren't you exaggerating just a little bit?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow making harry glare at him
"In school, Snape was in the same year as my mom and dad, he and dad were enemies who hated each other, while he and mom were friends until he said something very mean to her making her end their friendship, after that mom and dad got together and Snape has hated my dad for it. he's a mean vindictive man who will try everything in his power to ruin our lives just because he derives great pleasure from it"
"Oookay" Ron said sceptically, he really doubted that real life would be that much dramatic, suddenly the owls fluttered down and harry had received a letter from the gamekeeper who was supposedly a family friend, asking him to visit after classes.
The two boys headed down to potions along with the rest of their classmates, the potions room was filled with jars that held all sorts of stuff, which really creeped out Ron. Snape entered the room, which was completely silent and started the class by taking attendance.
He paused when he came to Harry's name and glared at him, the raven haired boy glared right back, refusing to look away, the potions master then continued with the roll call before pausing at Ron's name "ah yes Mr. Weasley...our little celebrity"
There was some sniggering voices but Ron ignored them in favour of glaring at Snape, maybe harry was right about the man having it in for him.
"You are here to learn the subtle art of potion making" he spoke in barely a whisper but everyone heard, like McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping people quiet without effort
"As there is very little of foolish wand waving here many of you will hardly believe it to be magic. I expect many of you will be unable to understand the beauty of the softly shimmering cauldron with its iridescent fumes, the delicate power of liquids that flow through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death... if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads I usually have to teach"
Harry gave Ron a look that said 'I told you so" making Ron give him a look saying 'shut up' beside him Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat looking desperate to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead, while the other Gryffindor's looked nervous; except Neville. he looked positively terrified.
The Slytherin's on the other hand looked completely nonchalant.
"Potter" Snape snapped suddenly "what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Hermione's hand shot into the air
"The draught of living dead, sir!" harry replied, somehow managing to make sir sound like an insult.
"Weasley" he turned to Ron "where would I look if I wanted to find a bezoar?"
"In the ingredients cupboard?" Ron posed his answer as a question earning laughter from Gryffindors' and a few Slytherins'
"Ten points from Gryffindor" Snape hissed but Ron put on a mask of polite indifference just to piss him off.
"What is the difference, Weasley between monkshood and wolfsbane?" again Hermione's hand shot up
"I'm not sure, but I think Hermione knows the answer; why don't you ask her" Ron replied
Again there was laughter as Snape snapped "put your hand down" at Hermione before turning to Ron angrily "a bezoar is a stone found in the stomach of a goat and can cure one of almost all poisons, as for monkshood and wolfsbane; they're the same plant, also known as aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" everyone pulled out their quills and parchment as Snape added "and another ten points from Gryffindor"
They went on to brew a simple potion to cure boils, weighing dried nettles and crushing snake fangs, Snape swept around the room criticising almost everyone except for Malfoy whom he seemed fond of.
That's when things went south. Acrid green smoke filled the air as Seamus' cauldron melted, courtesy of Neville. "Idiot boy" Snape snapped vanishing the potion "you added the porcupine quills before taking it off the fire didn't you" Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose "take him to the hospital wing" Snape spat at Seamus who obliged, he then rounded on harry and Ron who had been working nest to them.
"You Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quill?" Snape hissed and was about to tell him more when harry cut him off
"I didn't know I was supposed to make the potion and do your job as well" the raven haired boy spoke calmly as if stating an obvious fact
"Detention" Snape whispered looking ready to kill harry, by the time classes ended, Ron was mentally begging god to kill Snape.
"I hate that guy" harry commented glaring into space "why do you keep pushing his buttons?" Ron asked, he doubted Snape would be as bad as he was if harry didn't back talk all the time.
"It's a family feud Ron" harry said as the two packed up their potions kits "my family has a long history with him"
"So I take it we'll be serving detention all the time?" Ron asked making harry look at him with a questioning glance "hey if you're going to go around fighting that I guy I've gotta have your back" Ron smiled at harry who grinned back.
In the evening, the two boys went on to meet Hagrid. He was a large man with beetle black eyes and a face full of wild untamed hair and a pet dog called Fang who took an instant liking to Harry. "Ron Weasley, eh? The man grunted looking Ron up and down but not staring at his scar, Ron liked him instantly
"I knew you parents, great people" he sighed and Ron felt uncomfortable. Harry then began talking about his first week, telling Hagrid all about the various classes they had and finally about potions. "Harry" Hagrid sighed "don' mess with Snape, he can be righ' nasty"
"He started it" harry grumbled like a little kid
"Yer father was the one who started it" the giant told harry "an' yer mother ended it, they stopped this madness but Snape didn'. Don' go down that road kid" harry didn't reply choosing to look around the room before his eyes fell on the newspaper
"Hagrid" harry shouted "the Gringotts break-in it happened on my birthday, it might have happened while we were there, you were there as well remember?" Hagrid grunted and offered Harry one of his rock cakes but didn't meet his eyes Harry's eyes instead found Ron's and all the redhead could see in them was the spark of adventure.
XXXXXXX
Ron wasn't sure what to make of the news he'd just been given "Flying lessons with the Slytherin's?" Ron felt a little sick at the thought, even though he had been looking forward to it more than anything else "I'm going to make a fool out of myself in front of Malfoy"
Draco Malfoy had been annoying Ron since the first day of school, he wasn't irritating or obnoxious like most people Ron found on his wrong side, instead he seemed to be observing Ron all the time as if analysing him, waiting for him to make some sort of wrong move, the blonde boy really unnerved Ron.
"you'll be fine" harry said patting him on the shoulder, but seemed to excited to care, from what Ron had heard he had spent most of his childhood flying around in remote places where muggles couldn't spot him, even Seamus Finnegan claimed to have spent childhood zooming around the countryside. Neville himself had never been on a broom as his grandma wouldn't allow him, and Ron could see why, he got into enough trouble on ground alone.
Hermione Granger was just as anxious as Neville, because this was something you couldn't learn by book, Lavender Brown had been on a broom a few times, as had Parvati Patil but both claimed not to like it as it messed up their hair.
On Friday, the first years were ready and nervous about their first flying lesson; they were in breakfast as Hermione granger kept shooting flying tips from 'quidditch through the ages' when the owl post arrived, Ron's owl Shane brought him a letter from matt. The two had been corresponding, although not much since neither was much for talking.
Beside Ron, Neville seemed to have gotten a glass orb the size of a large marble filled with white mist. "It's a remembrall" Neville exclaimed as the ball turned red "oh god I've forgotten something" Neville tried to remember what he had forgotten while harry explained to Ron what the remembrall was.
At three thirty in the afternoon, the Gryffindor and Slytherin's were standing in the grounds, ready for their first flying lesson. "Alright everyone" madam Hooch barked "Place your hand beside the broom and shout up"
Everyone placed their right hand above their respective brooms and shouted "UP!" Ron grinned widely as his broom flew into his hand, but it was one of the few that did, other than him only Harry, Malfoy and one other Slytherin boy had been able to get the broom to rise in one go. For some it had simply rolled over while for others it had stayed put.
Soon everyone had their brooms in their hands and Madam Hooch showed them how to mount them without sliding off the end, she then went about correcting the grips of those holding them wrong. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.
"now when I blow my whistle, you'll kick off from the ground hard, fly up a few feet before descending by leaning forward, slowly" madam Hooch said poising the whistle near her lips. But before she could blow it; Neville, frightened and jumpy kicked off the ground hard.
"Come back down boy!" madam Hooch said, but Ron doubted Neville could even control the broom, he rose up- twelve feet- twenty feet, Ron saw him look down and turn white "never look down" Ron cried mentally as Neville gasped, slid off the broom and...
WHAM! Neville had fallen down on the grass in a heap while his broom rose up and flew towards the forbidden forest. Madam Hooch bent down and examined him "Broken wrist" she muttered before ushering Neville to his feet "come on boy" she told him before turning to the rest of the class "if any of you try to fly while I'm gone, even mount your broom, you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say quidditch"
She then left leaving sixteen unsupervised students with brooms. "Poor bastard" Malfoy said evenly
"Shut up Malfoy" Parvati snapped at him
"Ooh sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson hissed nastily "didn't know you were into cry babies"
Malfoy darted forward and picked up the remembrall from the ground prompting Ron to say "give it here Malfoy" everyone went quiet as Ron and Malfoy stared at one another
"Or what?" Malfoy asked glaring at Ron and pissing him off "I said give it here" Ron repeated his voice rising
"Come and take it" Malfoy said mounting his broom and shooting into the sky. Ron grabbed his broom, his inner self urging him on.
"NO!" Hermione Granger shouted "Madam Hooch told us not to move, you'll get us all in trouble" but Ron didn't care, he mounted his broom and noticed harry follow his lead, the two boys shot into the air, flying high and stopping a few feet away from Malfoy.
"give the ball here, or we'll knock you off your broom" harry told Malfoy who narrowed his eyes "come and get it" he said and Ron instinctively knew what to do he leaned forward and shot like a javelin towards Malfoy, when suddenly his path was cut off by a black blur, Ron twisted to see the other Slytherin boy hover a few feet diagonal from him
"Let's make this even shall we" the boy said, he had jet black hair and blue eyes. He seemed at ease hovering in the middle of the air, completely in his element.
"Catch it Nott" Malfoy called out passing the ball to the other boy who stretched out his hand, harry shot towards Nott who barely rolled out of the way, harry swerved around and went at Nott again who tried to dodge but harry spun inches away from him slamming his foot to Nott's side.
The remembrall flew into the air as Ron flew towards it, the redhead raced towards it catching the ball mid air, in the nick of time to pull his broom straight and land gently on the ground. Ron felt as if he was at the top of the world
"RON WEASLEY!" Ron paled on hearing his voice and turned around to see professor McGonagall running towards them.
"you're dead" harry said having landed already along with Malfoy and Nott before McGonagall had arrived, saving themselves from any trouble.
"Never in all my years... how dare you... could have broken your neck..." she seemed almost speechless in shock.
"It wasn't their fault"
"Be quiet Ms. Patil"
"But Malfoy..."
"That's enough; Mr. Thomas. Mr. Weasley please follow me"
"You'll probably get detention and lose some house points, don't worry too much about it" harry whispered to Ron as Ron departed. Ron followed McGonagall praying that harry was right and he would not get expelled
Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom and opened the door and said "excuse me professor Flitwick? Can I borrow Wood for a minute?" making Ron wonder what the wood was.
Wood turned out to be a burly fifth year, who looked as confused as Ron felt. McGonagall led them into an empty classroom "Weasley, this is Oliver Wood. Oliver I've found you a seeker"
Oliver's face suddenly brightened "are you serious?" he asked McGonagall who nodded
"Yes" McGonagall replied "I think Weasley was a natural, he caught an orb in a fifty foot dive; didn't even scratch himself" she then turned to Ron "was that your first time on a broomstick Weasley?"
Ron nodded not understanding what was happening "Wood here is the head of the Gryffindor quidditch team. You're going to be in the quidditch team"
"Weasley here, he could be good, tall but thin, we'll need to get him a good broomstick too, a Nimbus or Cleansweep I'd say" Oliver rambled on
"Now Weasley" McGonagall turned to him sternly "I better hear about you practicing or else I might change my mind about punishing you" she then smiled "congratulations on making the quidditch team Mr. Weasley"
XXXXXXX
"You're joking" harry said gaping at Ron who was enjoying his friend's astonished reaction "seeker- buy you're a first year- never- you must be the youngest player in a..."
"Century" Ron completed for harry "yeah, Wood told me. I start training next week. Don't tell anyone though, Wood wants to keep it a secret" soon Max and Charlie appeared and congratulated Ron, claiming they knew because they were beaters in the team.
Soon after the twins left, Malfoy decided to show up, followed by his henchmen "enjoying your last meal?"
"You seemed to have regained your strut now that you're back on solid ground, with your little friends behind you" Ron replied coolly
"I'll take you on one-on-one" Malfoy hissed "you think you can handle that?"
"I'll take you on anytime Malfoy" Ron growled "anywhere"
"Midnight, near the trophy room" Malfoy replied before walking away, Ron turned to harry who shrugged casually "you've both just started to learn magic, there's no way he would actually be able to harm you"
"Excuse me" a voice said making both of them turn to see Hermione granger standing "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation"
"Bet you couldn't" Ron whispered
"And you mustn't go out into the night by yourself, it is forbidden and you could lose all the points I have made for the house if you're caught which you're bound to be, it really is very selfish of you"
"And it really isn't any of our business" harry added
"And goodbye" Ron ended the conversation.
Ron was a bit apprehensive about braking two school rules in one day but he just couldn't back down from Malfoy, so at half past eleven, Ron and harry got dressed and descended to the common room only to find Hermione granger sitting on a chair.
"What the hell are you doing here?" harry demanded angrily
"I almost told Dylan Stiles, the prefect. He'd put a stop to this" Hermione said, she had a quality about her that really pissed off Ron.
"Come on" harry pushed open the portrait and walked out followed by Ron, but Hermione wasn't one to give up easily, she followed them hissing "you'll lose all the points I made for Gryffindor from McGonagall for knowing about the switching spell"
"Go away" Ron said and Hermione scowled and turned around only to see an empty portrait "I'm coming with you" she said following the two boys.
"You have some nerve..." harry began but was stopped by Ron, the heard some snuffling only to find Neville.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked the round faced boy
"I had been discharged from the infirmary, but I couldn't remember the password to get into the dorms so I was stuck out here" Neville wailed
"Keep it down mate" Ron hissed at the other boy "the password is pig snout. But it won't do you any good as the fat lady is gone"
"All of this is fine and dandy" harry whispered "but we need to go now, so bye!"
"Wait" Neville cried "let me come with you. The bloody baron has already been through here twice, I don't want to be alone"
Harry glared at Hermione and Neville "if we are caught, I will not rest until I've learnt the bogies hex Quirell was talking about and use it on you two" Hermione opened her mouth to tell harry exactly how to perform the spell but Ron shushed her and gestured them to follow.
The party of four made their way to the trophy room, where Malfoy and Nott were already waiting "I was beginning to think you had chickened out Weasley" Malfoy smirked making Ron scowl
"I would never miss a chance to beat you" Ron replied as Malfoy crouched and held up his fists, Ron realised what was going on "this is a fist fight"
Malfoy lunged forward throwing a punch at Ron who crouched before driving his shoulder into Malfoy's stomach; Malfoy pushed Ron away and punched him in the stomach, Ron retaliated by punching Malfoy in the face.
Malfoy growled and kicked Ron in the stomach; Ron grunted and shoved Malfoy against the wall, slamming his knee into the blonde boy's stomach in the process. Malfoy hissed and slammed in elbow against Ron's throat pushing Ron away as the redhead coughed.
Malfoy jumped onto Ron; driving him to the ground and punched him in the face, Ron was able to push Malfoy off him and kick him in the stomach. Malfoy stumbled back while Ron got up onto his feet but backed off.
The two boys stared at each other panting, when all of them heard a meow, the six of them froze. "we've made too much noise" harry said turning to Ron and Malfoy "you can continue fighting and get caught or walk away and stay free to fight another day"
Nott grabbed Malfoy by the arm and pulled him away, but before leaving Malfoy called out "this isn't over"
"Not by a long shot" Ron whispered as he, harry, Hermione and Neville exited the trophy room. The four of them sneaked through the castle, hoping to make it to the common room without being spotted, when they heard heavy breathing and Filch's nasty voice down the corridor "they're here somewhere"
Neville panicked and tripped, grabbing Harry by the waist and the pair toppled into a suit of armour, making enough noise to wake the castle. "Run" Ron shouted and the four of them fell into a mad dash. Ron led the way, not sure where they were going, he led them, they turned the corner and ran down the corridor slamming into the door at the end...only to find it locked.
They could hear Filch's footsteps as he ran towards them. Ron rattled the door handle but Hermione pushed him aside saying "oh! Let me" she pulled out her wand and tapped the lock and whispered "alohomora!"
The lock clicked and the four of them rushed inside closing the door behind them. They heard Filch run down the corridor and then silence as he probably looked around, and then he cursed to no one in particular before they heard more footsteps. "He didn't find us" Ron declared the obvious "we're safe- what is it Neville" he called out to the round faced boy who was tugging his cloak.
Ron turned around and paled at the sight of the beast; that was probably the reason why the third floor corridor was off limits. It was a dog with three heads, all three heads staring at them and salivating "out, out!" Ron shouted, deciding that getting caught was preferable to getting eaten.
The four of them ran out of the corridor, running all the way to the Gryffindor tower, not stopping until they were safe inside the common room. It was a while before any of them spoke.
"What in the name of hell is that damn mutt doing here?" harry spoke hoarsely "if there was ever an animal that needed exercise it was that dog"
Hermione seemed to have regained her breath and her bad temper "you obviously weren't looking at where it was standing, were you?"
"The floor" Ron guessed
"Forgive me if I was more concerned with the three heads" harry retorted making Hermione glare at him.
"No! Not the floor, it was standing on top of a trapdoor, it is obviously guarding something" she stood up "I hope you boys are happy, you could have gotten us killed or worse expelled, now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed" Neville decided to follow Hermione example and left as well
"No! We don't mind" Ron called after her "you'd think, we'd forcefully dragged her along" Ron turned to harry who looked deep in thought. "What's up mate?"
"Remember the break in at Gringotts?" harry asked Ron who nodded harry hadn't said anything about it, even though he had the look that said he knew something and Ron had decided not to push it.
"well the day it happened, I was in Gringotts and I saw Hagrid there on official Hogwarts business, I don't know what it was but he had a package with him; two inches long which I'm sure he had withdrawn from one of the vaults. I think the dogs guarding that package" harry looked pale and excited.
Ron himself could feel his curiosity building up and he mirrored Harry's look of excitement.
"We need to know what's in that package"
XXXXXXX
By the next morning, harry and Ron had decided that their encounter with the three headed dog was a fun adventure and they were quite keen to have another one.
"Whatever was in the vault must be really dangerous or really powerful" harry supplied
"Or both" Ron pointed out. All they knew was that it was two inches long, nothing else. Neville or Hermione didn't show the slightest interest in what was beyond the trapdoor. Hermione had even refused to speak to either of them, not that harry or Ron minded.
But the trapdoor was driven out of their minds a week later, when a parliament of owls landed in front of Ron accompanied by two letters, Ron ripped open the first letter which read
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE
It contains your new nimbus two thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight at the quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session.
Professor McGonagall
Ron smiled to himself before opening the second letter
Ron,
I've come to hear that you made the quidditch team. Firstly let me congratulate you on becoming the youngest quidditch player in about a century and secondly, if I hear you have broken any more school rules I'll send your childhood photos to your friend harry so that he can have a good laugh.
Love
Matt
Ron shuddered a bit at the mention of his childhood photos, but was pleased nonetheless. "A nimbus two thousand?" Ron moaned enviously "you lucky bastard" the two boys exited the hall, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before lessons.
But halfway across the entrance hall, they found their way barred by Malfoy "a broomstick Weasley?" he asked in a voice mixed with mockery and amusement "you really consider yourself above the rules don't you"
"That's rich coming from the likes of you Malfoy" harry snapped "you're just jealous because Ron has a brand new nimbus two thousand, and you have what? A comet two sixty?"
"Control your pet Weasley" Malfoy addressed Ron ignoring harry "if it doesn't stop running his mouth someone might decide to put it down"
Before harry could jump at Malfoy professor Flitwick appeared at the blonde boy's elbow "not fighting I hope, boys?"
"Just admiring Weasley's new broom sir" Draco replied
"Yes, yes that's right" the tiny professor squeaked "professor McGonagall told me about the special circumstances Weasley, and what model is it?"
"A nimbus two thousand sir!" Ron answered fighting not to laugh at Malfoy's fury "and it's really thanks to Malfoy that I got it" the two boys made their way upstairs, struggling not to laugh at Malfoy's icy rage.
"Well it is true" Ron chortled "If it hadn't been for Malfoy I would never have flown or gotten in the team"
"I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules" a cold voice came revealing itself to be Hermione Granger, looking disapprovingly at the package in Ron's hand
"I do actually" Ron replied cheekily "maybe you would get one too if you broke a few rules" Hermione stomped away angrily while the two boys rushed to their dormitories to open the Nimbus Two Thousand.
"Wow" harry said as the broom lay on Ron's bed, even Ron who didn't know much about brooms had to admit that it looked amazing. Ron spent the rest of the day thinking about his broom and dreaming about quidditch, until finally at six o'clock Ron was in the air racing around on his brand new broom, Ron couldn't think of a better feeling than rushing through the air, making sudden twists and turns
"Hey Weasley" Wood called out from the ground and Ron landed near him "good job. You really are a natural"
"Thanks" Ron said, he really wanted to get back in the air and fly some more, but Wood began explaining the rules of quidditch and the various positions. Ron listened to Wood's explanation which was much more detailed than Harry's.
After the explanation Wood took to the air with Ron and began throwing golf balls in the air while Ron tried to catch them; Ron caught all, some at the very tips of his fingers until Wood had finally run out of golf balls.
"Very good Weasley?" Wood grinned his eyes gleaming like a maniacs "we're definitely going to win the quidditch cup this year"
