Chapter 6: The Sorcerer's Stone

Ron is hovering on the broom, wearing the orange Chudley Cannons jersey, guarding the three rings. He is in his mid-twenties. The opponents are wearing the green jersey. The knockout match is playing between Chudley Cannons and Holyland Harpies. The winner of the match will advance to the next round of the National Quidditch World Cup in England.

Ron is playing as a goalkeeper in the team. He joined Chudley Cannons four years ago. He was made the captain a year before. Chudley Cannons surprised everyone first four years ago when they beat one of the dominant team for the first time in their history. From the last five years, Chudley Cannons are looking for young players in their team. The current Chudley Cannons's team is their youngest team in the history. This team proved themselves as an underdog in this tournament.

The left half of the stadium is filled with orange color by the Chudley Cannons supporters. Same the right half is filled with green by Holyland Harpies fans. The whole crowd is cheering very loudly for their respective team.

Right now, the Cannons are leading by a hundred points. The underdog of the tournament, Cannons is playing brilliantly. Nobody expects that Cannons will outshow Holyland Harpies that easily. Their star goalkeeper and Captain Ronald Weasley already made some quite spectacular saves to allow Cannons to maintain and increase their leads.

Ron made some more astonishing saves and denied most of the attempts made by the Holyland Harpies' chasers. The whole Cannons' crowd is cheering very loudly for their team. Soon, by the brilliant play by the Cannons' chasers and beaters they managed the lead of one hundred and fifty points. The whole Holyland Harpies' supporters are very disappointed with their team's performance while the Cannons' fans are praising their team. Some groups of fans are started dancing on the stadium. The whole Cannons' crowd is singing and dancing in the support for their team.

"The Harpies seeker made a spectacular dive for the snitch and ... and ... and ... HE CAUGHT THE SNITCH!"

"WHAT AN AMAZING MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF THE QUIDDITCH. HOLYLAND HARPIES CAME BACK FROM BEHIND AND DREW THE MATCH." shouted the commentator.

The whole Cannons' crown fell silent while the harpies' fans erupted into the loud cheers.

"The winner of the match is now decided by the penalties. Both teams are allowed to take five penalties each. The team who score more penalties is the winner of the match and proceed into the next round," said the commentator.

The whole crowd erupts into a great roar. The players of both teams are on either side of the pitch discussing their strategies with the coach.

"Both the captains join the referee for the toss," announced the commentator.

The Holyland Harpies captain Alex Morgan and the Chudley Cannons captain Ronald Weasley made their way towards the middle of the pitch. They shake their hands with each other. The referee tosses the coin. The Holyland Harpies wins the toss and allow the Chudley Cannons to take the penalty shot first.

"The Cannons' chaser James Anderson takes the shot towards the right hoop. The Harpies' goalkeeper Liam Plunkett made a dive, but WAIT HE SWINGS THE QUAFFLE, AND IT FLEW PAST THE MIDDLE HOOP. CHUDLEY CANNONS SCORES. BRILLIANT PLAY BY ANDERSON. THE SCORE IS CANNONS ONE AND HARPIES ZERO,"

The whole Cannons' crowd cheered loudly.

"The Harpies' chaser Stuart Broad takes the lighting fast shoot towards the left hoop. The Cannons' goalkeeper Ronald Weasley made his way towards the incoming quaffle, and he kicked it just in time out with his extended left leg. WHAT A SAVE WEASLEY. THE SCORE IS CANNONS ONE AND HARPIES ZERO."

The whole Cannons' crowd cheered loudly again while the Harpies fans groaned in frustration.

"The Cannons' chaser Steven Finn takes the shot towards the right hoop and GOAL. CANNONS TWO AND HARPIES ZERO."

"The Harpies' chaser Ian Bell takes the shot and WHAT AN AMAZING SAVE BY THE WEASLEY AGAIN. WEASLEY IS IN UNBEATABLE FORM TODAY. CANNONS TWO AND HARPIES ZERO."

"The Cannons' chaser Jamie Vardy takes the shot and GOAL. WHAT AN AMAZING SHOT, THE HARPIES GOALKEEPER DOES NOT HAVE ANY CHANCE. CANNONS THREE AND HARPIES ZERO."

"IF CAPTAIN WEASLEY SAVES THIS SHOT THEN CANNONS WINS THE MATCH AND MOVE INTO THE NEXT ROUND. THE HARPIES CAPTAIN AND SEEKER ALEX MORGAN TAKES THE PENALTY. HE ALREADY GIVES HARPIES THE CHANCE TO WIN FROM THE BRINK OF DEFEAT. CAN HE DO IT AGAIN?"

The Cannons' crowd started screaming their captain and goalkeeper name. "ROOOONN! ... ROOOONN! ... ROOOONN! ... ROOOONN!"

The Harpies captain made his way. Ron watched with pride how the Cannons' fans are reacting. The opponent captain takes a shot of the lightning speed towards the right hoop. Ron knew that if he has to save this shot he has to jump from his broom to make a dive. He listens the Cannons' crowd screaming his name, and that gives him the required courage. Smiling, he was about to jump from his broom and make a dive when suddenly he felt someone push him on the shoulder and he fell off the broom.


"Ron! RON!" he heard someone is calling him, but he was too distracted by the crowd who were shouting his name. Suddenly, he felt a push on his shoulder, and he fell out of his broom.

"RON! WAKE UP!" he heard someone yelled at him again shaking his shoulder a little.

He opened his eyes only to meet with the big chocolate brown eyes staring down at him. He blinked a few times and looked around the room, confused. He was wondering how he ends up in Gryffindor common room couch from the Quidditch field.

"You falls asleep on the couch," said Hermione in a soft voice.

He looks around and saw his finished charms essay. Then, he remembered the last night. How Malfoy played a hoax and in the end, how Hermione, Longbottom, and Potter end up seeing a giant dog with many heads in the third-floor corridor.

"You are lucky that I am an early riser, so nobody has seen you here snoring with a dreamy stupid smile plastered on your face," said Hermione with an amused expression. "Some dream. Yeah?" chuckled Hermione.

"Er- Yeah," he said while his ears turn red due to embarrassment. "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem,"

He noticed that Hermione was already in her school robes with her backpack on her shoulder, ready for the class.

"What time it is?" asked Ron.

"Eight."

He gets up and collects his belongings. He still has one hour to get ready. He suddenly groaned in pain due to his sore neck from sleeping.

"I told them to take you up," said Hermione with a slight annoyance in her voice.

"It is better this way," said Ron.

"So who won the duel?" asked Ron playing dumb.

"There was no duel at all. Malfoy tricked them," said Hermione quite frustrated.

"He also tipped Filch. We barely escape him," said Hermione keeping her encounter with the three-headed dog by herself.

"I also had a feeling that Malfoy is playing hoax, but I don't think they believe me if I told them," said Ron.

"They do not," confirmed the frustrated Hermione.

"I think I should be going," said Ron as he turned around towards the stairs of the boy's dormitory.

"See you later, Hermione!" Ron waved to Hermione.

"Good Bye, Ron!" said Hermione, waving back.


At breakfast, by the looks of disappointment in Malfoy's face, it was clear that he indeed set up last night. Ron was thinking about the giant dog that was protecting the Sorcerer's Stone. He and Theodore need to find out fast what the Sorcerer's Stone is?

A week later, he and Theodore are still not able to find out any information about Sorcerer's stone. At one morning, six large screech owls carried a long package and dropped it in front of Potter. It was evident that it was a broomstick given to The-Boy-Who-Lived as a gift for becoming the youngest seeker of the century. Malfoy, as usual, did not like this.

He decided to write to Ginny and Luna. He had completely forgotten about his promise.

Dear Ginny

As promised, I am writing to tell you that ... I am in Gryffindor. I was too shocked at first. I can not believe that I ended up in Gryffindor. I am sorry, I can not write to you early. I was too busy adjusting myself inside Gryffindor and doing tons of homework. My life at Gryffindor is not bad. I can be worse, I tell you. Here almost every student ignore me. At first, I felt miserable in this lonely life, but after a few weeks, I fall into a habit. I spend most of my time with the Twins. I was glad that at least I was able to make one friend, Theodore Nott. He is from Slytherin. The only Gryffindor who is friendly towards me is Hermione Granger, the same girl I met at Diagon Alley with Luna. She is quite intelligent, I told you. I always wonder why she does not end up in Ravenclaw?

Now, I am going to tell you how everything goes around here, at Hogwarts. The train trip is quite lonely. I have a compartment all by myself. At one point Hermione joined me. I was talking to her when another boy joined us. Guess who? Neville Longbottom. You know about the conflict between the Longbottom's and dad, right? I was too shocked at first to react. We ended up in an argument. I decided to keep a minimum distance from him afterward if I do not want to end up in any another argument with him. But look, what happened, that ruddy Sorting Hat has a different opinion. Now I have to share the same dormitory with him for the seven years. He is a friend of the great Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. This fact does not make my life easy at Gryffindor. We also ended up in another argument on the first night. After that, we completely ignore each other. I was happy with this solution.

A lot about myself, Hogwarts is a great place. You will love it the moment you first view it. I do not want to give details to spoil your surprise when you come here next year.

I will warn you that the twins lied about how they chose you for each house ... You do not have to fight with any Troll. You have to put on a hat that depending on how you are, sends you to a house that corresponds to you. I think I was one of the slowest to be selected.

I will write to tell you what subjects are like when I seriously start studying.

I hope you are having fun at home because here I miss you enough and I think I am going to die of boredom if I do not find something else to do apart from reading books.

Enjoy your freedom, brooms, and quidditch while you can ...

Your big brother

Ron

He also drafted a similar letter to Luna. He rolled both the parchment after the ink dried and made his way to the owlery.


At Halloween feast, Professor Quirrell came running into the Great Hall looking very scared.

"Troll in the dungeons. Thought you ought to know."

And then he fainted.

All the students escorted into their respective common room with the Prefects.

November came, and the weather started getting cold. He has a few jumpers and heavier coats. He also learned warming spells. Professor Snape was seen limping for the few days after the Holloween.

One day Ron found himself in the Library with Theodore in search of the Sorcerer's stone. They are searching for this for months and now gets very frustrated. They are in the Library for half an hour researching.

"Look, Ron, I found something," said Theodore.

"What?"

"See," he said pointing the paragraph in the book. Ron reads it over his shoulder.

The Philosopher's Stone or Sorcerer's Stone was an artificial, rufescent stone with magical properties. It could be used to create the Elixir of Life, which extended the drinker's lifespan, as well as transform any metal into pure gold. The Stone was created by the famed alchemist Nicolas Flamel.
The famed alchemist Nicolas Flamel created the only Philosopher's Stone which was known to exist. Flamel used the Elixir of Life made from the stone to extend his and his wife Perenelle's lifespan for over six centuries.

"Six centuries! Bloody Hell!" exclaimed Ron.

"Used to create Elixir of life which makes the drinker's immortal," added Theodore.

"Transform any metal into pure gold," continued Ron.

"That is bloody precious," said Theodore. "By the way, you never told me why we are researching about it?"

"I overhear Longbottom and Potter talking about it," lied Ron looking down.

Theodore looked at Ron with a serious expression.

"One day, you have to tell me the truth," said Theodore seriously.

Ron did not look up to meet Theodore's eyes. He did not want to lie to him, but he can not tell him the truth either. Right now, there are other matters of concern.

Someone is after Sorcerer's Stone and maybe Nicolas Flamel asked Professor Dumbledore to protect it. And what is the better place than Hogwarts? He remembers from his dream that Hermione and others thought Professor Snape is trying to steal it. Well, the stone turns any metal into pure gold and also used to make Elixir of Life which makes you practically immortal. No wonder anyone trying to steal it. But why a teacher tries to steal it? Dumbledore trusted every professor.

He looked up at Theodore. He was busy with another large book. This boy always intrigued him.

"I always wondered about this, Theo. Why are not you like Malfoy and his goons who follow the likes of Voldemort? You know a lot more dark spells than the rest of the lot and you do not even sprout that pureblood nonsense. And your father is a death eater," said Ron.

Yes. After spending three months at Hogwarts, Ron came to an understanding that all the pureblood superiority is nonsense. There are many half-bloods and muggleborns wizards and witches here at Hogwarts who are better than him. Hermione is a great example.

"And so it yours," answered Theodore.

"Yeah, I know, but you see it is evident that many half-bloods and muggleborns are better than me, so I know now that it was all rubbish," said Ron. "I am not talking about you. I know you are smart and brilliant. But still, you do not believe in pureblood superiority nonsense. Why?"

"Sometimes, I also wonder the same thing, Ron," said Theodore. "I can say that I have a more of an open mind."

Ron smiled at him.

"And you are also a brilliant wizard Ron. Do not belittle yourself. You are also friendly with Granger despite she is a muggle-born," said Theodore.

"She is the only one in Gryffindor whom I can consider as a friend. I do not know that she knows about my father's past or not. But if she knows, she does not hold it against me. And I am grateful for that." said Ron.

"And she is smart and brilliant, and yeah sometimes noisy," added Ron.

"Yeah, I admit she is smart. Sometimes it is hard to believe that she is a muggle-born," said Theodore.

"Well, Theo, you do not believe in pureblood superiority from the beginning. You know about my father's past, and still, you become my friend," said Ron.

"Well, your sorting intrigued me towards you. Everyone believes that you will be sorted into Slytherin like every other Weasley. But here you are in Gryffindor. I wanted to know you better, and I am delighted about it," said Theodore.

"We both have similar past. Our fathers were death eaters, but we are different. Most people think the son of the death eater will also be a death eater. Or Slytherin house is for the dark wizards. You already prove other that you are different by being a Gryffindor. I still have a long path to follow to move from my father's shadows."

Ron nodded in understanding.

"Your housemates did not like you to be spending your time with a Gryffindor," said Ron.

"You better than Malfoy," said Theodore naturally.

Ron smiled at him, a warm and genuine smile which Theodore returned happily.

The two boys spend more time in the Library completing their homework. Ron was grateful for having Theodore as a friend. He was glad that finally, after so many weeks he was able to find something about Sorcerer's Stone. Now all he has to do is to keep an eye on Potter, Longbottom, Hermione and Professor Snape.


The day of the game between Gryffindor versus Slytherin had finally arrived. Students were heading their way to the Quidditch stands to get some good seats. As expected, both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were rooting for Gryffindor to win. Slytherin won the Quidditch cup last seven times in a row as well as the house cup. It was quite obvious how serious the other three houses were at beating the house of Serpent.

He was sitting in the Gryffindor stands, but mentally he was supporting his brother's team. The game is as expected quite intense or barbaric in Hermione's words. The Gryffindors are in the lead from the start. At one point during the match, he notices that Potter was falling around funny for some reason. He did not know if it was a distraction tactic, or if something was wrong. It looks like he lost control of his broom. Suddenly, it appears as if the broom threw him off as he fell forward and grabbed the broom with one hand. Suddenly, there was a yelp from the teachers stands. He looked over and saw that Professor Snape was trying to stomp out the fire from his robes. After that Potter regained his control on the broom and climbed back.

Soon Potter catches the snitch by his mouth, and the match ended. Gryffindor won the match by one hundred seventy points to sixty. There was a celebration in the Gryffindor common room. He did not feel like joining the party. He stayed out with Theodore outside the castle. He knows Theodore is brilliant and he will eventually figure out his secret. He did not want to keep secrets from him. He was his only real friend. There was no harm if Theodore knows his secret. Most of his burden will be shared. He decided he will tell him after the end of the year.


It was December. He received a letter from his parents. His parents and Ginny are going to Romania to meet Charlie. They ask him if he wants to join them or spend his Christmas with twins at the Hogwarts. Theodore decided to go home for the Christmas, therefore he is also joining his parents and Ginny.

Charlie gave them a small tour of the building that was, in fact, a dragon reservation center for a while after showing them their rooms in the nearby buildings. Charlie and Ron spend the rest of the day catching up and exchanging stories. They had dinner in the dining area. Charlie introduced them to some of his colleagues. At ten Mrs. Weasley ushered the two younger children to the sleep.

Meanwhile, Charlie was in deep thought. At first, he can not believe it.

"How can be Ron sorted into Gryffindor?" he asked his father.

"Ron told us that the Sorting Hat believes it will be good for him," said Mr. Weasley.

"How can it be good for Ron dad? You know our past. The Gryffindors will never treat him properly. They hate us, and they hate him."

"I know Charlie he is having a hard time, but we have to trust him. He is a strong child," said Mr. Weasley. "He said that he was doing fine."

"How he was doing fine?" yelled Charlie. "He told me that he has almost no friends in Gryffindor. He hardly spends any time at Gryffindor tower. Longbottom is his dormmate. Which only make the matter worse. Do you think he is having a peaceful time in his dorm? They had a big argument on their first night. He does not even spend his time in the common room. He only goes there to sleep."

"We can not do anything against it, Charlie. We can not challenge the Sorting Hat's decision. And he has Theodore Nott as a good friend."

"Yes, we can. We have to speak with the Headmaster and ask him to transfer Ron into Slytherin. His best friend Theodore is also a Slytherin," said Charlie.

"At first, I was also very concerned for him. I almost talked to the Headmaster. But at last, I think it was the best for him, Charlie," said Mr. Weasley calmly.

"How so?" Charlie asked hotly.

"I never wanted to participate in the war. I always wanted to remain neutral. But I was weak. He forced me to take this," said Mr. Weasley showing the dark mark on his left arm. Then he added in the determined voice.

"It is the time for my children to be there own person. To overcome the horrible shadow of their father's crime, to show the world that they are not weak."


A/N:

I hope you like it. Please read and review.

There are roughly two more chapters left before the first year is done.