Authors Note:
I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, but here it is. I did use the book to write this thing, so it is similar to it, but like the other chapters, I have added a lot of my own things to it as well.
This section in the book is about 3800 words, and it's about 6000 words in mine, so rest assured that I have added a lot of new things to it.
Anyway, read on!
Last Time
The three boys clambered onto the train and leaned out the window for her to kiss them goodbye. Their younger sister began to cry. "Don't Ginny," Fred consoled her. "We'll send you loads of owls."
"Yea we'll even send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat," George added.
"George!" The mother admonished.
"Only joking mom," The twin in question added hastily.
The train finally began to move. Harry and Percy looked out the window and saw the boys' mother waving, and the sister, half crying, half laughing, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed. Then she fell bad and waved. Harry and Percy watched the girl and her mother until they disappeared around the corner.
Present - On board the Hogwarts Express
It had only been a few minutes since the train had left the platform. Percy and Harry felt a great leap of excitement as they looked out the window. Houses rushed past in a blur. As the train drove past a small hill, a group of farmers stopped and waved. Harry and Percy happily waved back. They didn't know where they were going to go or what was going to happen, but they knew that no matter what, they would have the time of their lives.
As they were staring out the window, the door to their compartment slid open, and the youngest redheaded Weasley came in. "Do you mind if I join you guys?" He asked, looking apologetic. "Everywhere else is full, or empty and I don't fancy having to sit alone either."
"Oh, not at all," Harry said, gesturing to the seat next to him.
"The more the merrier," Percy said, welcoming the boy in. As Ron was settling in, the door opened again and the twins stepped inside.
"Hey Ron," Fred said. "Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train."
"Yea, Lee Jordan's there," George said. "He's got a giant tarantula and we'd like to see it."
"Oh right," Ron mumbled. "See you guys later then."
The twins turned to Harry and Percy. "By the way, in case we forgot to introduce ourselves earlier, we're Fred and George Weasley, and this here is our younger brother Ron."
Percy and Harry smiled. "Yea we remember, don't worry."
"Great," The twins said. "We'll be leaving now. See you boys at school!" With that, they backed out of the compartment and the door closed behind them.
"Anyway, like they said, I'm Ron Weasley," Ron said, holding out his hand.
"I'm Percy Jackson," Percy said, shaking the hand he was offered.
"Nice accent, mate," Ron added. "You're from the states huh?" He asked, to which Percy nodded.
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, shaking Ron's hand next.
"WOAH," Ron exclaimed. "S-so it's true! Fred and George told us they met you, but we thought they were messing around."
Harry chuckled nervously. "Yea they're...interesting," He said.
"Do you...Do you have the- the," Ron said, stuttering.
"The what?" Harry asked.
"Oh Harry, what could he be asking about?" Percy said, pointing to Harry's forehead.
"Oh right," Harry said, laughing. "Yea I do," He said, pulling his bangs back to show the lightning shaped scar.
"So that's where You-Know-Who..." Ron said, his voice trailing off towards the end.
"Yea, but I honestly don't remember anything about it," Harry said.
"Nothing at all?"
"Nope, just a bunch of green light, but that's it."
"Wow," Ron added. He stared at the scar for a few seconds before he realized what he was doing and looked away.
"Umm, maybe we should change the subject," Percy put in.
"Yea good idea," Ron said. "So are all your family magical?" He asked.
"As far as I know, my mom was magical," Percy said, twirling a licorice wand in his hand. "I never met my dad since he was lost at sea before I was born, but maybe he was as well," He added. "I don't know about my ancestors though."
"My mom and dad were both wizards," Harry said. "I assume no one else on my mom's side was, but I'm sure my dad was the opposite," He added.
"What about you?" Harry and Percy asked together. Having no knowledge of the wizarding world before, they found Ron just as curious as he found Harry.
"Umm, Yea I think so," Ron said. "I think mum has a second cousin who isn't, but we never really speak of him, so I'm not sure."
"So you must know a lot of magic already!" Percy said. His intuition had told him that The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families that the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about. Thinking about the boy made Percy a bit angry. He had instantly taken a dislike to the kid.
"I guess you both lived with muggles," Ron said. "What are they like?"
"Horrible," both Percy and Harry said at the same time.
"Well, not all of them," Percy said. "Most muggles are fine," He added.
"Yea, just the ones we both lived with weren't," Harry said.
"My mom married a man named Gabe a few years back," Percy said. "Gabe hated everything that wasn't poker, food, and alcohol," He added. "He treated me and my mom like trash."
"The Dursleys were pretty bad too," Harry said. "They hated magic, so they hated me as well. I wish I had three wizard brothers."
"I've got five," Ron said, looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say that I've got a lot to live up to."
"How come?" Percy asked.
"Well, my oldest brother Bill, who already left Hogwarts, was a head boy," Ron said proudly. "And my second oldest brother, Charlie, was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He's left Hogwarts too now," He added.
"Wow, that's a lot to top," Harry said.
"That's not all. Now Percy's a prefect," Ron added sadly. "Fred and George mess around a lot, but still get good marks and everyone loves them. Not just that, but they're on the house team as well."
"Don't stress mate," Percy said, clapping Ron on the back.
"It's hard not to," Ron said. "See, everyone expects me to do as good as the others, but even if I do, it's no big deal because they've all done it first." Ron reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. "You never get anything new either, when you have five older brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat," He said, pointing at the Rat with disgust.
Percy laughed. "You should be glad my cat is sleeping right now," He said.
"I almost wish it was awake," Ron grumbled. "His name is Scabbers, by the way. He's useless and he hardly ever wakes up. Pathetic, isn't he?"
"Just a little bit," Harry said, trying to be nice, as Percy snorted.
"Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect," Ron continued. "But they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron, who thought he had said too much, turned pink.
Harry and Percy didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. "Hey it's ok man," Percy said. "There's nothing wrong with not being able to afford an owl," He added.
Ron just sighed.
"Mate, up until a few weeks back, both me and Percy had no money either," Harry added.
"Really?" Ron asked. "No way."
"Yes way," Percy said. "My mom worked, and Gabe would spend all her paychecks on beer and poker with his friends. We both got nothing."
"Yea, and the Dursleys never gave me anything either," Harry said. "I was always wearing Dudley's old clothes and stuff. I never got presents either."
"Wow..." Ron said. This seemed to have lifted Ron's spirits, realizing that he wasn't the only one.
"I never even knew about the wizarding world or Voldemort until-" Harry started to say.
Ron cut him off with a gasp. "You- You said You Know Who's name!" He said, sounding both impressed and shocked at the same time."
"Oh right," Harry said.
"I would have thought that you of all people-" Ron said.
"See this is what I mean," Harry said. "I'm not trying to be brave by saying his name. I just never knew that you shouldn't."
"Yea both me and Harry have a lot to learn," Percy said. "I bet that I'll be the worst in my class," He added, voicing a worry that had been on both his and Harry's mind for a long time.
"Nah, I'm sure you both will do great," Ron said. "There are loads of people who come from Muggle families, but learn quickly enough."
None of the boys kept track of the time that had passed by as they continued their conversation. By this time, the train had carried them out of London. The boys were silent for some time as they looked out the window, watching fields full of cows and sheep, and massive mountain ranges pass by behind them.
Around mid afternoon, the silence was broken by a clattering noise from the corridor outside. "What's that?" Harry asked.
Percy, who was sitting closest to the door, leaned his head outside. "Oh it's some lady with a cart full of food," He informed.
Harry leaped to his feet. "I want food," He said. "Didn't have a proper breakfast with the Dursleys."
"Calm yourself," Percy said, laughing. "She's still a ways off." Harry blushed and sat back down in his seat.
A few minutes later, the door to their compartment slid open and a dimpled woman with a kind smile adorning her face leaned inside. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" She asked.
"No thanks," Ron said meekly. "I'm all set," He added as he held up a bundle of sandwiches and gave a forced smile.
Harry and Percy looked at each other and had a silent conversation which went something like this-
Harry: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Percy: "If you're thinking that 'Ronniekins' here doesn't want to eat those sandwiches, then yea."
Harry: "Wanna buy something? We'll split the money half-half and share with Ron."
Percy: "Sure why not. I'm hungry too."
They were broken out of their silent conversation by the lady. "What about you two?" She asked them.
Harry and Percy dug a bunch of coins out of their pockets. "We'll take the lot!" They exclaimed.
"Great, Which items would you like?" She questioned. Harry jumped up excitedly, ready to buy all the Mars Bars he could.
"Do you have Mars Bars?" He asked.
Percy snorted. "Do you think they'd have those sweets in a train full of wizards?" He questioned.
"Oh right," Harry said, blushing. "So umm...what do you have?"
The woman pointed at a piece of parchment that had been stuck onto the sides of the cart. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands-" Harry read.
"You know what," Percy interrupted. "Don't bother reading the rest." He turned to the lady. "We'll take 5 of everything you have."
The lady's eyes grew wide as she handed over the food. "That's 14 sickles and 10 knuts," She said. Percy and Harry each pulled out their part of the payment and handed it to the lady, who thanked them profusely before moving on to the next compartment.
Ron stared at the two as they dropped their armload of snacks onto an empty portion of the seat. "Wow," He exclaimed. "That's a lot."
"Yea I'm starved," Harry exclaimed, as he opened a pumpkin pasty and took a large bite.
Ron meanwhile, opened his lumpy package and pulled apart a sandwich. "Corned beef. She always forgets I don't like corned beef," He said, setting the package down on the seat next to him.
"We'll swap you for these," Harry said.
"There are four, so we'll each take two," Percy added. "And you can have as much of these sweets as you want."
"You don't want this," Ron grumbled. "It's all dry, saying as she doesn't have much time with having to prepare for the five of us all by herself."
"It's fine," Harry said. "I'm sure it'll taste better than anything the Dursleys have ever given me."
"I don't mind corned beef," Percy shrugged. "I'm quite used to having to eat cardboard."
"Go on then," Ron said happily.
Harry and Percy each grabbed two and bit into the sandwiches. "They taste fine," The boys said. "Help yourself," They added, gesturing to the pile of sweets.
Harry had to admit that this felt nice. He had never had a friend or anyone to share something with before, and it was a nice feeling to sit there with Percy and Ron and eat their way through all the food they had bought.
After a few minutes of munching on Pumpkin Pasties and Licorice Wands, Harry picked up a small box labeled Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. "Anyone wanna share these with me?" He asked.
"Oh, you wanna be careful with those, mate," Ron warned. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor."
"Oh boy," Percy said. "Here, give it a try, Harry."
"Alright," Harry said, as he threw a jelly bean into his mouth.
"They've got regular flavors like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade and other stuff," Ron said. "But then they also have really gross flavors like spinach and liver flavor, and tripe," He added. "George swore he got a bogey flavored one once!"
At that last sentence, Harry stopped. He plucked the half chewed jelly bean from his mouth and threw it onto the floor as Percy and Ron burst out into laughter.
Ron picked up a green bean and bit into the corner, before immediately spitting it out. "Bleargh!" He said. "See, it was sprouts."
This time, Percy and Harry burst into laughter. "Let's play a game with these," Percy said. "We each pick one and eat it and tell the others the flavor!"
"Sure!" Ron exclaimed, happy to have something to do.
"I'm not so sure..." Harry said. "I'd rather not accidentally get a Bogey bean."
"Oh don't be a wimp," Percy said, smirking.
"Come on Harry, it'll be fun," Ron urged.
"All right, fine," Harry said.
"Ok, three, two, one, GO," Percy said. At his last word, the three boys rushed to the stack of beans and pulled one out. Harry reached for a light brown colored bean. Ron grabbed one which was green, and Percy ended up with a purple one.
"Let's eat," Ron said, popping the bean into his mouth as the other followed.
"Hmm, not bad," Harry said. "I think it was toast."
"That sounds good, I got apple," Ron exclaimed. "What about you Percy?"
"Mine was grape," Percy said, grinning. "So far so good. Let's keep going."
The boys had a great time playing their game. They played until the stack of beans was completely finished. By the end of the game, Harry had gotten toast, coconut, baked beans, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and also a funny gray one which turned out to be pepper. Ron had received, apple, mustard, guava, mango, hot dog, wood, as well as Mushroom, Liver, and a weird brown one which looked like chocolate but turned out to be dirt. Percy had been the luckiest out of the group, getting mainly fruit flavored beans except for his last one, which ended up being swamp water.
When the trio was done with the beans, Harry picked up a chocolate frog. "These aren't real frogs, are they Ron?" He asked.
Percy's face went slightly green. "Please say that they aren't," He said.
Ron laughed. "Don't worry! It's just a spell to make them move and stuff. It's all chocolate!"
"Oh good," Percy said, relieved, as Harry unwrapped a frog. Immediately the frog jumped off the package and onto the windowsill.
"Watch out!" Ron exclaimed.
"Stop it!" Percy yelled.
But they were too late. The chocolate frog leaped right out the open window and disappeared from sight.
"Oh that's rotten luck, Harry," Ron said apologetically. "They've only got one jump in them anyway!"
"Hey what's that," Percy put in, gesturing to a small card that had fallen out of the package when the frog jumped off.
"Oh right, see what the card is," Ron said.
"What?" Harry questioned.
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know," Ron said. "So basically, each pack has a card of a famous witch or wizard inside for you to collect. I have about 500. I'm still missing Agrippa or Ptolemy though."
Harry picked up the card that had fallen onto the floor. It showed the face of a man wearing half-moon glasses. The man had a long, crooked nose, as well as flowing silver hair and a beard and mustache.
Percy leaned over to look at the card. "Hey, it's Dumbledore!" He exclaimed.
"Wait, how did you know?" Harry asked.
"He came to pick me up in New York," Percy answered. "Maybe because I wasn't from the UK like everyone else?"
"That makes sense," Harry said. He turned back to the card. "So this is Dumbledore," He exclaimed.
"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore," Ron said. Harry just shrugged. "Anyway, can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa!"
As Ron was unwrapping his frog, Harry turned his card over to the writing on the back and read: Albus Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts is considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times. Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, as well as for his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
Harry turned the card back over and noticed to his surprise that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. "Hey! He's gone!" Harry said.
"Wait what?" Percy said, grabbing the card. "What the- Where did the picture go-"
"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?" Ron said. "He'll be back, don't worry."
"You're telling me portraits move in the wizarding world?" Harry asked.
"Yea isn't that how it is everywhere?" Ron questioned, his lack of knowledge about the muggle world being even more apparent than before.
"Well, Ron, pictures don't move in the muggle world," Percy informed.
"What! How can they stand being in the same place for so long?" Ron asked.
"I- you know what? I'll tell you later," Percy said. "Did you get Agrippa?" He asked, gesturing to the card in Ron's hand.
Ron looked over the card. "Agh nope. I've got Morgana again and I have like six of her." He passed the card over to Harry. "Here, you can have it and start your own collection as well!"
"Thanks mate!" Harry said, happily taking the card.
"No problem," Ron said, as his eyes strayed over to the remaining frogs.
"Help yourself," Percy said, as he stood up. "I'm gonna go get some more of these." With that, he walked out of the compartment, leaving Ron and Harry to open the remaining frogs.
"Still no Agrippa," Ron muttered glumly as he opened the next chocolate frog.
"Hengist of Woodcroft," Harry muttered, as he opened the last one. "Do you know who he is?" He asked Ron.
"Not really. I have his card but never bothered to read it," Ron answered.
Just then, Percy came back, his arms loaded with frogs. "I see Dumbledore is back," He said, nodding towards the card Harry had set down next to him. Harry stared at the card as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture and gave the boys a small smile.
"That's so cool!" Harry exclaimed, reaching for another frog. By the time the frogs had been finished, Harry had put together a small collection. He now had not only Dumbledore, Morgana, and Hengist of Woodcroft, but had also gotten Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, Merlin, and Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose.
"Not bad, Harry," Percy said, smiling at the stack of cards. "What about you Ron? Got Agrippa yet?"
"Nope," Ron sighed. "Ten frogs opened and all had cards I've already got."
"Ahh well, better luck next time, mate," Percy said.
"Wow, it's been a long time," Harry said, staring out the window. The other boys murmured their agreement. The countryside flying past the window was now becoming wilder. The large open fields had been replaced with woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. The boys stared out the window for a few minutes, watching as the beautiful scenery went by.
Suddenly, there was a knock on their door and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on the platform came in. He looked tearful. "Sorry," He said, "But have you seen a toad at all?" Harry, Ron, and Percy all shook their heads. "I've lost him. He keeps running away from me," The boy wailed.
"Hey it'll be ok," Harry said, reassuringly.
"Yea, he'll turn up," Percy added.
"Thanks," The boy said. "Anyway, if you see him, please let me know!"
"We will," Ron said, as the boy exited the compartment. "Don't know why he's so bothered though," Ron whispered. "If I had gotten a toad, I'd have lost it as quickly as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." The trio looked down at the rat, which was still sleeping on Ron's lap. "He might have died, and I wouldn't know the difference," Ron said, disgusted.
Percy murmured his agreement. "A bit unusual isn't it? A rat sleeping for this long?" He asked.
"Can you wake him up with some spell or something?" Harry asked curiously, wanting to see some magic done firsthand.
"I think that's an advanced spell. I tried to turn him yellow yesterday with a spell Fred and George gave me." Ron answered. "I thought it would make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work," He grumbled.
"Can we see it?" Percy asked.
"I'll give it a try," Ron said. He rummaged in his trunk and pulled out a battered looking wand. It was chipped in some places and a white substance was glinting at the end. "Ugh, the unicorn hair is nearly poking out," Ron muttered. "Anyway-" He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again.
The toadless boy was back, but this time, there was another girl with him. She was already in her Hogwarts robes. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," She asked. She had a bossy sort of voice, with lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.
"We already told him we haven't seen it," Ron said.
The girl wasn't listening. Her eyes had strayed over to the wand Ron now held in his hand. "Are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She said, taking a seat across from him next to Percy.
Ron looked rather taken back. "Oh umm, ok," He said, clearing his throat. "Sunshine daisies, butter mellow...Turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" He said, waving his wand wildly in the air. To his disappointment, nothing happened.
Percy stifled a grin. By the words of the spell, he had deduced that this wasn't a real spell at all. and by the expression on Hermione's face, it seemed that she had the same idea as him. "Are you sure that's a real spell?" She asked. "Well, if it is, it's not very good is it!" She pulled her own wand out. "I've tried a few of the more simple spells myself just for practice and they've all worked for me," She added. "For example-" She pointed her wand at Harry's cracked glasses. "Oculus Reparo," She said, flicking her wand. With a tiny burst of light, the tape on Harry's glasses flew off as the glass repaired itself.
Harry took them off and looked at them amazed, as did the other two wizards. "That's really cool!" Percy said. "Nice one!"
"Thanks," Hermione said, giving him a smile before turning her attention back to Harry. "That's better isn't it?"
"Are your parents magical too?" Percy asked curiously.
"Nobody in my family's magical at all," She answered. "It was such a pleasant surprise for us all when I got my letter, saying as it's the best school of witchcraft there is."
"Did you study ahead?" Harry asked.
"I've learned all our course books by heart, of course," She said proudly. "I just hope it'll be enough-" Ron had taken a bit of a dislike to the girl at this point, and he made it quite clear by glaring at her. "By the way, I'm Hermione Granger," She introduced herself. "And you all are?"
"I'm Percy Jackson," Percy said, giving her a smile. "Nice to meet you," He said.
"Wow, you're from the states, huh?" Hermione asked. "Weren't you supposed to go to Ilvermorny?" She asked.
"I don't know," Percy said truthfully. He had never been told of another magical school, that too, one located in his home country.
"Anyway, What's your name?" Hermione asked, turning to Harry.
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said.
"Are you really!" Hermione said. "I know all about you! I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're mentioned in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Am I?" Harry asked, slightly dazed.
"Dang Harry," Percy said, smirking. "This girl knows more about you than you do."
"Goodness, you didn't know?" Hermione asked. "If it were me, I would have gone and found out everything I could." She then turned her attention back to Ron, who was still glaring at her, and gave him a distasteful look. "And...you are...?" She asked.
"I'm...Ron Weasley," Ron said, his mouth full of chocolate.
"Pleasure.." Hermione said though it was obvious she didn't mean it. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in?" She asked. "I've been asking around, and I'm hoping to get into Gryffindor. It sounds like the best one, and Dumbledore himself was in it. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad, though!"
The boys were about the answer when Neville, who seemed to have been forgotten, decided to cut in. "H-Hermione," He asked. "C-can we go look for my toad?"
"Oh I'm so sorry, I completely forgot," Hermione said. "Anyway, I should go help Neville," She said. "You boys should change into your robes. We'll be there soon." She turned to Ron. "Oh by the way, you've got dirt on your nose," She said. "Over here," She said, pointing at the spot before leaving.
Ron, rather embarrassed, started furiously rubbing the spot, which only helped spread the dirt out even more. "Whatever house I'm in, I hope she isn't in it," Ron said.
"She seems like a nice person," Percy said. "I mean, she was helping that boy find his toad."
"Whatever," Ron said. "Stupid spell," He added, looking darkly at his wand. "I bet Fred and George knew it was a dud when they gave it to me."
"What house are your brothers in?" Harry asked.
"They're all Gryffindors," Ron said gloomily. "So were Mom and Dad."
"Is there like some kind of rule that families stay together?" Percy asked.
"Nope," Ron said. "I don't know what they'll say if I don't end up in the same house as them. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if I got into Slytherin."
"Isn't that the house that Voldemort was in?" Percy asked. "I mean..You-Know-Who was in" He corrected himself.
"Yeah," Ron said, wincing at Percy's use of the name. He flopped back onto his seat, looking depressed.
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter than before," Harry said, trying to make Ron feel better.
"Yea, they're definitely no longer gray," Percy said, catching on to what Harry was doing. "By the way, Ron," He added, trying to change the subject. "What do your older brothers do now that they've left school?"
"Do they work in the muggle world?" Harry asked.
"Nah, Charlie's in Romania, studying dragons," Ron said. "Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts."
"Sounds cool," Percy said.
"Oh did you hear about what happened at Gringotts?" Ron asked. "It's been all over the Daily Prophet."
"Yea we don't really have that paper with the muggles," Percy and Harry said.
"Someone tried to rob a high security vault," Ron said.
"Really? What happened to them?" Harry asked.
"Were they caught? Gringotts seemed really secure when we went..." Percy added uneasily.
"That's the thing. Nothing happened, and they weren't caught," Ron answered. "My dad said that it must have been a powerful dark wizard to be able to do something like that."
"Wow.." Percy said. "Was anything taken?"
"That's what's even more confusing!" Ron said. "They think that nothing was taken.
"Did they find out who did it?" Harry asked.
"Wait, I'll just show you the article once we get to Hogwarts!" Ron said. "Everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You Know Who's behind it."
Harry turned and looked away. He was starting to feel a prickle of fear every time his parents' murderer was mentioned. He supposed that this was all a side effect of being informed about all this so late, but he had been a lot more comfortable saying Voldemort without having to worry.
"What's your quidditch team by the way?" Ron suddenly asked, looking excited.
"Quidditch?" Percy asked.
"The sport," Harry said. "And er- I don't know any teams-"
"What!" Ron said, looking dumbfounded. "Just you wait. It's the best sport in the world. You'll see." And with that, he was off, explaining to Percy and Harry about the four balls, the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he had been to with his brothers, and the broomsticks he would like to get if he had the money.
He was just taking the boys through the finer details of the game, such as the points system, loopholes, and the rules used in professional matches, when the door to their compartment slid open yet again.
Three boys entered the room and Harry and Percy immediately recognized him as the pale, arrogant boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. The boy was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he had back at Diagon Alley. "Is it true?" He asked. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry said, looking over the other boys that Blondie had brought with him. Both of them were thick and heavyset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they seemed to be somewhat like his bodyguards. "Oh this is Crabbe, and that's Goyle," The pale boy said carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."
"Great, now we were in the middle of a conversation, Can you leave?" Percy asked as Ron tried to hide a snigger.
Draco glared at Percy before turning to Ron. "Think my name's funny, do you?" He asked. "No need to ask yours," He added. "Red hair, freckles, hand me down robes, You must be a Weasley," He said.
"So what if I am," Ron asked defensively.
"My father told me all about you and how your family has more kids than they can possibly afford," He said, gloating. Ron's face turned red with anger as Draco turned his attention back to Harry. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter," He said, holding out his hand. "You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
Percy looked down coldly at the hand offered to Harry, feeling a sudden urge to smack it away and throw the boy out of the compartment, but he managed to calm himself and let Harry answer Draco.
"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," Harry said cooly, refusing to take Malfoy's hand.
Draco Malfoy went red in his pale cheeks. "If I were you, Potter, I'd be careful," He said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either." Percy clenched his fists. "You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you," Malfoy continued.
That was the final straw. Percy, Harry, and Ron all stood up angrily. "Say that again," Ron said angrily, his face as red as his hair.
Malfoy sneered at them. "Oh so you're going to fight us are you?" He asked.
"Unless you get out right now," Harry said, more bravely than he was feeling. He knew Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than himself, Ron, and Percy.
"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys?" Malfoy said. "We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Malfoy reached towards the chocolates next to Ron as Goyle tried to swipe his cards.
"Ok that's it," Percy said. He raised his arm and punched Draco in the nose.
The pale boy gave a yelp as he toppled backward, clutching his nose. "You'll pay for this," He said. "Crabbe, Goyle, get them!"
The goons rushed forward towards the trio. Ron leaped forward to join the fight, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell and scrambled backward. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle. Crabbe and Malfoy, still clutching his nose, backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling with pain. Goyle finally managed to dislodge the rat from his knuckle. Scabber flew off and hit the window before falling down onto the seat.
The three goons immediately started to retreat. "My father will hear about this!" Draco yelled back as he ran out of the compartment, followed closely by Crabbe and Goyle. Percy was wondering why they left. Scabbers was knocked out anyway. Perhaps they thought there were more rats hiding among the sweets. Or maybe it was because they had heard the oncoming footsteps because a moment later, the compartment door opened again and Hermione Granger came in.
"What has been going on here?" She said, looking exasperatedly at the sweets littered all over the floor.
Ignoring her, Ron gingerly picked up Scabbers by the tail. "I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closely at Scabbers and then groaned. "No. I don't believe it. He's gone back to sleep.
Percy burst into laughter. "Well, at least he did something useful between his naps," He said.
"Anyway, you guys have met Malfoy before?" Ron asked.
"Yea, in Diagon Alley," Percy said, as he and Harry explained their meeting in Madam Malkin's robes shop.
"I've heard a lot about his family," Ron said darkly. "They were some of You Know Whos oldest followers, and the first to come back to our side after he disappeared."
"Why am I not surprised," Percy said Dryly.
"They said they'd been bewitched," Ron added. "Of course, no one in my family ever believed that. My dad said that Malfoy's dad didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."
Harry snorted. "Bewitched. Yeah right."
"Excuse me! I'm still here," Hermione said, interrupting them.
"Can we help you with something?" Ron asked, turning towards Hermione, who was still standing in the doorway, glaring at the occupants for ignoring her.
"Oh sorry Hermione," Percy said. "What's up?"
"It's fine," Hermione said, giving Percy a smile before looking at Ron. "You'd best change into your robes now," She said. "I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor and he says we're nearly there."
"Oh right," Percy said, reaching for his robes.
"Have you been fighting in here?" Hermione asked suspiciously. "You'll get in trouble before we even get there!"
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron said, scowling angrily at her. "And would you mind leaving while we change?"
"All right- I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childish, running up and down the corridors," Hermione said in a sniffy voice. "And you've still got that dirt on your nose," She added, walking out the door as Ron glared at her back.
Harry peered out the window. "She's right," He said. "It's starting to get pretty dark. I think we're almost there."
"Yea, let's change," Percy said, grabbing his robes from his trunk. The boys quickly took off their jackets and pulled on the long school robes over their shirts. Percy noticed that Ron's robes were a bit short for him, and his sneakers were visible underneath them. He felt a tinge of pity for the poor boy.
Harry kept looking out the window as large mountains and forests passed by them under the deep purple sky. The train started to slow down and the voice of the conductor echoed through the train. "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time," Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
Harry's stomach lurched with nerves. Ron, he saw, looked pale in the face. Percy was breathing rapidly, showing his nervousness. A few minutes later, the platform came into view. Harry, Percy, and Ron looked out the window with bated breaths as the train slowed down even more and finally came to a stop at the station.
Authors Note:
And that's it for this chapter. The remaining pre Hogwarts stuff like the boat ride and all that will happen in the next one!
I wanted to make Percy's feelings about Hermione different from Ron's and Harry's so I made it so that Ron can't stand her, Harry is neutral, and Percy actually likes her. I don't know how that turned out, but oh well.
Anyway, thanks for reading, y'all! Remember to comment/vote on Wattpad or Follow/favorite on Fanfiction. Thankss! Cya all next time :D
