Disclaimer: My first Harry Potter fic... I'm worried it'll turn out a big flop like my Digimon fic...  They don't go into the Muggle world yet this chapter, but they will.Anyways, I don't own Harry Potter. They belong to J.K. Rowling. Now, read!

As the Hogwarts rode home on the train back from Hogwarts, Ron Weasly sighed. "Seven years," he muttered. It had been seven years. Seven long, eventful, and great years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And now he was leaving.

"You look depressed," Harry Potter, Ron's best fried, said.

"I am," he replied, and ran his fingers through his flaming red hair. "I have to get a job now, and Mum and Dad don't really want me back at the house after my incident with the frog spawn..."

"That was a stupid idea," Hermione Granger, another one of Ron's best friends, said. Ron scowled at her, and looked out of the window and watched the country roll by. "Oh!" Hermione said suddenly, and pulled out a book from her trunk, The Advanced Book of Spells, and started to read.

"What are you reading?" Harry asked.

"How to Apperate," Hermione replied brightly. Ron heaved a deep sigh.

"Hermione, we're not taking the tests until August! It's June!"

"I know, but I'd just like to get a head start!" She ran her finger along the book, and read aloud. "To Apperate, the witch or wizard performing the spell must concentrate hard on the place they wish to Apperate. The picture must be sharp, and it helps for beginners to close their eyes. To Apperate faster, one must say 'Sellicria' and they will appear where they were going to Apperate."

"Wow," Harry said, his eyes widened. "Sounds difficult."

"Fred and George said it's harder than it sounds. They got Splinched once." Harry and Hermione grimaced at this, as Ron continued. "They were trying to Apperate to the Burrow for a Christmas party, but I think they thought of their old room, so their heads and arms were at the front door, and their bodies were in their bedroom, walking around, bumping into stuff." Harry and Hermione laughed at this, despite the grotesqueness

As the sun began to sink down beneath the horizon, the Hogwarts Express pulled to a screeching halt. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got off of the Hogwarts express, depressed, until Hermione cheered them up. "Professor McGonagall didn't give us the slips saying we aren't aloud to use magic outside of Hogwarts! We're fully qualified wizards! Oops!" Hermione bent down to pick up her Head-Girl badge. Harry laughed, and Ron scowled. Harry was Head-Boy (which surprised him) but Ron wasn't even a Prefect.

They walked towards the barrier off of Platform 9 ¾ and looked for their parents, or in Harry's case, his Aunt and Uncle. "Well, there're Mum and Dad!" Hermione said, nodding in her parents direction. Keep in touch!" She walked over to Harry and kissed him on the lips, making him go red, and kissed Ron on the cheek. He felt his ears grow hot.

"So there you are," a gruff voice growled from behind Harry. He wheeled around and saw his rather large Uncle Vernon, his boney Aunt Petunia, and his cousin, Dudley. The Dursleys had seemed less menacing now to Harry.

"Listen," he said flatly, "I'm a fully qualified wizard. Nothing is stopping me from jinxing you!" The Dursleys backed away in fear, and Ron laughed.

"Good one, Harry."

"I don't have to stay with you anymore!" Harry called to the Dursleys, who were now so far away from Harry that they were by Platform 2. When the Dursleys heard this, they each smiled and rushed towards Uncle Vernon's ugly car. It was a dull brown, and Harry hated it. The slammed their doors shut, and drove off as quickly as possible. "HEY!" Harry called after them, waving his arms.

"Relax! You can stay with us for a while! Mum said you could!" Ron said. Harry gave a sigh of relief. "There's Mum and Dad over there!" Ron pointed off to the left, and there were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

They both shared Weasley traits. Mrs. Weasley was short and plump, which gave Fred and George and their brother, Charlie, their stocky traits. Mr. Weasley was tall and balding, giving Ron, his brother, head of the Department of International Magical Co-Operation, Percy, an even older brother, Bill, and Ron's younger sister, Ginny, their tall traits.

"Hello, Harry dear!" Mrs. Weasley smiled when they reached her. Ginny was already there, talking with her father.

"Hello. Thank you for inviting me to stay with you," Harry said.

"Oh, don't think another thing of it! Hello, Ron!" She hugged Ron, who blushed profusely, and then let go. "Arthur!" she shouted in her husband's direction.

Mr. Weasley looked away from Ginny and spotted Harry and Ron. "Harry!" he said. "Ron! Welcome back! Did you have a good term?"

"Yes," Harry responded.

"No," Ron responded.

"That's good. I hear that you got quite a good number of N.E.W.T.'s! Good job!" he said, shaking Harry's hand. "That will help you search for a job."

"As for you," Mrs. Weasley rounded on Ron. "Out of all of your classes, you only got four N.E.W.T.'s!"

"Well, it's not all my fault," Ron said, shrugging.

"Come along, Molly!" Mr. Weasley said quickly, grabbing his wife's hand. "We have to get going!"

They had to hail a taxi cab to take them near Ottery St. Catchpole (or closest to it.) London was so far away that it wasn't until well after seven o'clock that they got to the post office in their village. "That'll be 205.25," the cab driver said.

"Oh," Mr. Weasley said, frowning. "That..."

However, it seemed Ron wanted to take matters into his own hands. He calmly took his wand out of his coat pocket. "Obliviate!" he said, almost lazily. The cab driver got a dazed look on his face, and let them out, driving off saying something about tea with the Queen.

"RON!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "Why did you do that?"

"We don't have Muggle money," Ron said, shrugging.

They went up the hill of Ottery St. Catchpole until they reached a tall, flimsy looking house, called "The Burrow." It looked like, and it probably was, held up by magic. There were many floors, each had one room, plus an attic. Ron's room was at the very top.

"Time for supper," Mrs. Weasley said briskly, leading them into the kitchen of the Burrow. She pointed her wand at the cupboards, and five plates, cups, forks, knives, and spoons magically burst out of them.

"Fred and George are at their joke shop," Ron explained at Harry's puzzled look. Mrs. Weasley's lips grew thinner, but began magically cooking supper.

The supper they had that evening was a regular dinner, which Harry was surprised to have, since the Weasley's usually made spectacular food. Tomato soup, stuffed peppers, and pumpkin juice were on the menu, and after supper, they all sat down and listened to WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network.)

"I wish I had a melleyvizzen," Ron sighed as they listened to the Weird Sisters play.

"Television," Harry corrected.

"Yeah. Melleyvizzen. I wish I had one. It's like pictures only they talk!"

Harry sighed. "Ron, you need to see the Muggle world. When we get our Apperating licenses I'll show you London. Maybe Hermione can come with us."

"Alright!" Ron said, then ran up the flights of stairs into his own room, which was plastered in orange, for Ron's favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Harry followed him up there, and found Ron immersed in The Advanced Book of Spells.

"I thought you said we had until August to get our Apperating test?" he said smugly.

"Shut up," Ron retorted.

***

The rest of Harry's time at the Weasley's was uneventful. He and Ron hadn't bothered to look for jobs. Mr. Weasley agreed that they should wait until summer was over. But then he told them they needed to get houses of their own.

When it was finally time to get their Apperating licenses, they received owls from the Ministry of Magic. Harry opened his letter on August Fifteenth at breakfast time and read it.

Mr. Harry Potter,

You are now of age to take the Apperation test that the Department of Magical Transportation gives every August for Hogwarts graduating students. Please follow our instructions.

First: Come to the Ministry Headquarters in London, England.

Second: Go to the Department of Magical Transportation.

Third: Take the test.

Fourth: If you pass, you will be given your license. Then you may Apperate whenever you want to.

The date scheduled for your test is August 16th. Please be there at 9:00 sharp. Thank you.

Gregory Rhump

Head of the Department of Magical Transportation.

"I have to go to the Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, slightly bemused. He had always known the Ministry was in London, but he never knew where it was.

"Yeah," Ron said, biting into some toast. "I've been there loads of times."

Harry looked down at his plate. If he was going to the Ministry of Magic, they might want to question him. Lord Voldemort seemed to have disappeared after Harry's fifth year. Harry shivered, remembering his fight with Lord Voldemort in his fourth year. He ate the rest of his breakfast in silence.

The next day, Harry and Ron walked over to the fireplace. Ron went over to the left side of the fire place and took a pinch of powder out, handing some to Harry. Ron threw some of the Floo Powder into the fireplace, and its flames turned emerald green. He stepped into the fireplace, and shouted loudly. "The Ministry of Magic!" There was a loud roar and the flames died down, and Ron wasn't there.

Now it was Harry's turn. Being sure to put his glasses in his robe pocket, he threw his Floo Powder into the flames, making them turn emerald green. He stepped in, and tucked his elbows close to him. "The Ministry of Magic!" he said, confidently. The flames roared again, and Harry was picked up. He opened his eyes for a brief instant, but closed them, because he was beginning to feel sick. Finally, he landed with a dull thud.

Harry quickly put his glasses back on, and for the first time in his life, saw the Ministry of Magic.

It had a forest green sign reading The Ministry of Magic- Serving the Magical Community. It was above a building that was forest green itself, with many windows. Harry caught glimpses of people in the windows, all sitting down at desks, and looked like they were concentrating hard.

"Like it?" Ron asked from behind Harry, making him jump.

"Yeah, it's... cool," he replied, slightly red from jumping.

"Well, let's go in. The Department of Magical Transportation is on the tenth floor, and that's a long way to walk," Ron said, and walked up the cobblestone pathway leading to the Ministry of Magic.