o0o0o0o

A Family of Wizards

If one had any knowledge of wizarding society, then they would undoubtedly be familiar with the idea of the hierarchy of families. While magical governments themselves are technically run by elected officials, much of the power, money and authority in a country is held by its most powerful families. These are known as the High Noble Families, or the Noble Houses, and they are among the oldest and most influential names in the Wizarding World. Beneath these most prestigious families, are the Lower Nobles, families which still carry old and powerful names, but do not have the same influence or coin as the High Nobles. Below them are the Common Families, which make up the majority of the wizarding population in Britain.

Beneath the Common Families, at the very bottom of magical society, are the Weasleys. Prior to the signing of the Statute of Secrecy in 1749, the Weasley Family was actually counted among the Noble Families, as they had been responsible for vast areas of farmland and orchards for generations. However, in order to maintain the secrecy of the Wizarding World, the Weasleys were forced to abandon their lands and began a slow decline into poverty. Now, the Weasleys are counted as the lowest of the low in Wizarding Britain, although they still survive on what little they have left to their name.

It is very important to understand the place of the Weasley Family, if one wants to learn about the boy called Ron Weasley. Ron was currently the sixth son of the family, an eleven-year-old just about to begin his first year at Hogwarts. Like the rest of his siblings, Ron had inherited the distinctive red hair of his parents and he boasted an impressive covering of freckles on his nose and cheeks.

Although the Weasleys could easily have used the Floo Network to get to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, Ron's parents insisted that they travel by muggle means. While his mother probably agreed so that they could save money on Floo Powder, Ron was certain that his father would have made them use the muggle way even if they were the most noble house in Britain. Mr Weasley was constantly pushing for his family to associate more with muggles, and to learn about how their world worked. Unfortunately, this did not help to improve the image or status of Weasleys, any more than their lack of money.

Regardless of the negative impact it might have, on the 1st of September, Mrs Weasley still dressed her children up like muggles and took them to catch a muggle bus into London. Their group probably drew as many stares from the muggles as the muggle world drew from them. There were six of them; all with bright red hair, four of them carrying battered old trunks and one of them holding a caged owl.

Fortunately, Ron's father had taught them all how to dress properly as muggles. Ron knew that very few wizards had the first clue how muggles actually dressed, so that was one bonus from his father's fascination. However, both of his parents had decided that everyone should still show their house allegiance, even while disguised as muggles, which meant that they were all wearing red t-shirts, along with red jackets or shirts. Combined with their red hair, it probably attracted even more strange looks than if they'd been in robes.

The odd group had arrived at King's Cross by half-past ten. After picking up a few trolleys for their luggage, they began to make their way towards the Nine and Ten Barrier.

"Can't I go and watch them Mum- I don't want to get on the train, I just want to watch it. I promise I won't try to sneak on."

The person speaking was Ron's little sister, Ginny, who was clinging to her mother's arm and making innocent, wide-eyed faces up at her. Mrs Weasley looked down at her daughter and smiled comfortingly.

"No dear, I'm sorry," she said soothingly, "We've talked about this. You're not old enough, the barrier won't let you through. You'll be allowed to see the platform next year, don't worry."

"Besides, Ginny," said one of Ron's older brothers, "We wouldn't want you to get sent home before you're even really at school–"

"Even we didn't manage it that quickly," said another.

Fred and George were two years older than Ron and they were both terrible pranksters. They also happened to be identical twins, and even Ron struggled to tell which was which. To make matters worse, they had decided to wear matching maroon jackets over their t-shirts, as well as matching black pants, so Ron didn't actually know which one had spoken first and which had been second.

Mrs Weasley frowned at her sons' words, but Ginny giggled at them, "Well if I can't go with you, then you need to send me that toilet seat you keep promising me."

"Toilet seat?" said Mrs Weasley, looking confused, "Why on earth would you want a toilet seat Ginny?"

"Fred and George have been threatening to blow up a bathroom for two years," said Ron, smirking, "They kept telling us they'd send us back a toilet seat as proof, but so far, we haven't even got a floor tile."

His Mother looked outraged, while Fred and George made over dramatic faces of disgust at him.

"Our own brother, George," said one of them, "He betrayed us. To think, we had such high hopes for him-"

"-but he's turned out to be just another Percy," continued the other, shaking his head, "Oh, what is this family becoming, Fred?"

Ron and his brother Percy both went very red at that, particularly their ears, as was common with angry Weasleys.

"Shut up," said Ron indignantly, while Percy responded haughtily, "Well, I hope you remember that I'm a Prefect now, and if I see you two anywhere near a bathroom-"

"You'll what?" asked one of the twins, "Give us detention? Report us to McGonagall for needing the toilet?"

Percy the Prefect clamped his mouth shut and went even redder, so that he was now rivalling the colour of his hair and shirt. He sniffed at them and turned away. Even if he'd just been the butt of the joke, Ron couldn't help but snicker at his brother's predicament. Percy had been flaunting his new status as a Prefect all summer and it had been annoying for everyone, so it was about time they got a bit of payback on him.

"Don't talk to your brother like that," snapped Mrs Weasley, "And don't you dare think about blowing up anything while you're at school. I don't want any toilet seats on our doorstep. Don't think I won't know either, Ginny will let me know if you send her anything."

"Of course I will, Mum," said Ginny sweetly.

'Liar,' thought Ron, 'You wouldn't even tell me. In fact, you've probably already got a toilet seat hidden under your bed.' Ginny liked to play innocent, but she could be as devious as Fred and George when she wanted to be.

"Of course we won't, Mum," said the twins together, mimicking Ginny's tone.

As much as they joked, Ron knew they wouldn't go through with it. They tried to pretend they weren't afraid of anything, but Ron had never met anyone who wasn't afraid of Molly Weasley when she was angry.

The group eventually reached the barrier, to find it full of people loitering between platforms.

"Really," said Mrs Weasley shaking her head, "The only muggle train that leaves around this time, and it just happens to be right by the barrier. It's no wonder it's always packed with muggles, isn't it. Really, why your father insists that we always use this entrance is beyond me."

"Because it's more fun!" said one of the twins excitedly, "Watch!"

And with that, he leaned forward over his trolley and ran at full pelt through the crowds. Ron snickered as the enchantments forced muggles to trip or jump out of his reckless charge, scattering them to either side like bowling pins.

"Fred!" shouted his mother, as Fred disappeared through the wall, "Oh, what am I going to do with him?"

"Don't worry Mum," said George sincerely, "Fred just doesn't know when enough is enough."

All three Weasleys looked at George in shock. "Um- well, George," said Mrs Weasley, looking utterly gob-smacked, "If that's right, then maybe you can talk some sense into him for me."

George frowned at her. "George?" he said, "Call yourself our mother? I'm Fred!"

"But- but, didn't you just say- oh, really Fred!"

Mrs Weasley threw her arms up in the air as Fred rocketed after his brother, laughing like a madman.

"Really," said Mrs Weasley for the hundredth time that day, "Those two. Doesn't know when enough is enough. Clearly not! What am I to do with them?"

"I'll talk some sense into them Mother," said Percy, stepping forward, "They were out of line here. I mean, a bit of fun is one thing, but the enchantments here aren't all that strong. Can you imagine if a muggle had seen them-"

"Excuse me!" called a voice.

Ginny squeaked in surprise and everyone else turned sharply towards the voice. Percy spun around so fast that his glasses nearly came flying off his face. Standing nearby was a short, skinny boy, wearing round glasses and muggle clothes that were far too big for him. On his trolley sat a heavy trunk, not unlike Ron's, and on top of that was a cage, containing a beautiful snowy white owl.

Everyone relaxed when they saw the owl, and Mrs Weasley approached the boy with a smile.

"Hello there, dear. Hogwarts too, are you?"

"Um- yes, hello. Er- I-" the boy seemed incredibly flustered and his face was turning very red, "I just wanted to ask- it's just I was wondering how to- um-"

Ron noticed him pointing at the barrier as he trailed off. 'The platform?' he realised, 'Is he muggle-born? Probably, but muggles don't keep owls as pets, do they?' He made a mental note to mention that to his dad. He would love to hear that muggles might actually be more similar to wizards than people thought.

"Oh," said Mrs Weasley, catching on, "You were wondering how to get onto the platform. This is your first year then, I suppose. Not to worry, dear. Ron's just starting as well."

Ron smiled as the boy looked over at him. It wasn't likely for the two of them to end up in the same house, most muggle-borns ended up as Hufflepuffs, but it was still possible that this one would wind up in Gryffindor with him. The Weasleys had always been Gryffindors, they were one of those families that just seemed stuck to one house, like how the Malfoys were stuck to Slytherin or the Ollivanders were stuck to Ravenclaw. Regardless, it didn't hurt to be friendly, even if they weren't likely to share classes.

"Y-you want me to just run into it?" said the boy, after Mrs Weasley had finished explaining how to use the barrier, "But- but it's solid brick, isn't it?"

'Definitely muggle-born,' thought Ron, suppressing a snort.

"Here Mother, let me show him what to do," said Percy, looking eager to teach another student something, "Now watch closely, and try not to get distracted."

With that, Percy started a brisk walk towards the barrier, just barely fast enough that it would open. It was so dignified and so different from Fred and George's wild charge, that Ron had to suppress another snort of laughter. Once Percy was gone, Ron turned back to the muggle-born boy, expecting to see a look of wide-eyed amazement.

Instead, the boy was frowning. "But what about everyone else? What about the- the muggles?" he said, looking confused, "Won't they notice that?"

This time, Ron didn't manage to hold back the noise of amusement he made. "Nah, they're muggles," he said "They don't notice anything do they?"

His mother gave a much better explanation of why nobody noticed, but Ron still thought his was just as true. They really didn't notice anything when you got down to it. It was a bit of a shame for them really.

The boy gave them a quick thank you, then ran towards the barrier, disappearing into the crowds as the enchantments took effect.

"So when the muggle kid runs through the crowd its fine, is it?" asked Ron.

"Well he's a muggle-born and he's a first year," said his mother, "Your brothers don't have either excuse."

"Yeah, ok I get it," he agreed, although he still thought it had been funny, "Anyway, my turn I guess. See you at Christmas!"

He went to move towards the barrier, but something grabbed him round the middle before he could. "Ginny!" he cried, "Get off me, let me go."

"You stay right here, young man," said his mother sternly, pulling him into a hug.

Suddenly, Ron found himself being crushed in a group hug between his sister and his mother. Mrs Weasley kept planting kisses on his cheeks and saying how much she would miss him, while Ginny just held on to him like a vice.

"Geroff- Mum! Let me go, I need to catch up with- Ginny, get off me! Get. Off."

Finally, he managed to disentangle himself from his family, and he quickly started running towards the barrier before they could grab him again. As he ran, his mother shouted after him to be careful and write often. He felt his face turn red and thanked Merlin that his brothers hadn't been there to see that.

He reached the wall and his limbs immediately began moving at a snail's pace. It felt like he'd collided with a wall of syrup. Surrounding him was what looked like a strange, muted rainbow, that shifted and swirled and went on forever.

'Weird,' he thought, 'I guess it's meant to stop you from crashing into people.'

He emerged from the other side of the gateway. The first thing he noticed was that he was heading directly for someone's back. In panic, he jerked his trolley to the side, but he himself still hit the boy at full speed. The two of them went crashing to ground, while their trolleys smashed together nearby.

"Ahh," hissed Ron in pain, as he picked himself up, "Sorry about that- ah-"

He glanced around and saw many people watching and laughing at them. Part of him wished that he would fall through the floor and never be seen again. Looking over at the person he'd hit, he wasn't surprised to see that it was the same boy who'd approached them about how to pass the barrier.

"N-no, I'm sorry," stammered the boy, as he clambered to his feet, "It was my fault- I should have paid more attention, I- I was just-"

"Hey, it's fine," said Ron, rubbing a sore spot on his back, "No harm done. Well, a bit of harm done, but- you know what I mean."

"Er- right," said the boy, replacing his glasses, which had fallen off in the impact. The two boys looked at each other awkwardly for a minute, before they both jumped at the sound of an owl hooting loudly. Looking over, Ron saw the white owl from earlier perched atop its cage, which seemed to have burst open. The bird was looking at the boy in irritation, ruffling its feathers at him.

"Yes, I'm- er- sorry to you too, Hedwig," said the boy. The owl just hooted again, "No, you can't have another treat. Come on now." The boy stepped forwards and tried to put the owl, Hedwig, back into its cage.

"You don't need to do that," said Ron.

The boy looked over at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"If that's an Eyelops Owl, then it probably knows where Hogwarts is," said Ron, "My brother's owl did anyway. You could let yours fly next to the train."

The boy looked sceptical, but he turned to his owl and tried it anyway, "Er- Hedwig, do you know where Hogwarts is?"

The owl gave him an offended look and took off, flying up to join the rest of its kind near the ceiling.

"I'll take that as a yes, I suppose," said the boy, turning back to Ron. Once again, they stood in uncomfortable silence. Up close, Ron could see that the boy was much more dishevelled than he'd first thought. His clothes weren't just too big for him, they looked like they'd been made for someone four times his size.

'Great,' thought Ron, 'Not only am I a Weasley who's talking to a muggle-born, I'm a Weasley who's talking to a poor, shabby muggle-born. I should win an award for being the Weasliest Weasley who ever lived or something.'

"I'm- uh, Harry," said the boy, moving as if to hold his hand out to shake, but pulling it back at the last minute.

"Ron Weasley," said Ron, silently kicking himself for giving his last name. Even if Harry was muggle-born, Ron was still worried that he would march off in disgust at the name.

"Um- well," continued Harry, "I guess- well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, then."

"Uh- right, yeah," replied Ron, picking up his trolley, "See you."

The two went their separate ways, with Harry moving off towards the train and Ron heading into the crowd to find his brothers. He located them near a throng of Ravenclaws. Apparently, Percy wasn't done with Fred and George yet.

"-you even think about what you were doing? What was going through your head!"

"We don't think Perce," said one of them.

"We just do," said the other, "Much more fun that way."

"That's your entire problem!" shouted Percy, who looked beyond his breaking point, "You never even stop to consider-"

"Ron!" said the twins together, catching sight of him. Before he could say anything, they swooped down beside him and grabbed an arm each, keeping him held in place.

"Fantastic entrance, brother," said one of them.

"Simply splendid," added the other, "And to think, a moment ago we were accusing you of being boring-"

"-no, worse- of being Percy!"

"Glad to see we haven't lost you yet. Keep knocking down innocent first years and you might not get a snake in your robes at all this year."

"Maybe we'll even let you in on the toilet seat plan-"

"Ooh, I don't know George. That might be more reward than he deserves-"

"Yes, it is a very noble quest after all-"

"We can't bring just anyone in on it."

"On the subject of toilet seats," interrupted Percy loudly, "I still need a word with you about-"

"Oh no," said Fred, dropping Ron's arm, "Incoming lecture, George! Abandon ship!"

The two of them dashed off into the crowds, leaving Percy to storm after them, screaming about being a Prefect and telling mother. This left Ron on his own again with his luggage, feeling thoroughly abandoned. Well, he wasn't entirely on his own. From within his breast pocket came a quiet squeaking and Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, poked his head out from within.

"Are you joking?" said Ron incredulously, "Crashing into the back of another student didn't wake you up, but Fred and George did?"

Scabbers didn't answer, actually he looked like he'd gone back to sleep again.

"Useless," said Ron, shaking his head and pushing his trolley over towards the train. His brothers clearly weren't going to be helping him, so he might as well find somewhere to sit.

As he approached the train, he spotted Harry the Muggle-Born again. He was trying to get his trunk up the steps and into the carriage, however he seemed to be having some difficulty lifting it. His owl was perched on the train above him, watching him struggle. Ron hesitated only a moment before approaching. At least he knew Harry's name, that would make it easier to start a conversation, he hoped.

"Hey, need a hand?" said Ron.

"What- oh, um- sure, thanks," replied Harry.

Together, they were able to pull both their trunks up the steps. Ron was glad that he'd approached Harry after all. He didn't think he could have lifted his on his own either. They moved down the corridor, after an unspoken agreement that they would look for a compartment together. Unlike the outside of the train, which was painted in Gryffindor red and gold, the interior walls were made of dark wood and the floor was carpeted in the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw.

The two of them eventually found an empty compartment and hoisted their trunks up into the luggage rack. The compartments, once again, were a different colour to the corridor. This time, the seats were cushioned in emerald and silver, the Slytherin colours. There was a large window at one side, which looked out over the platform, and on the wall above it was the Hogwarts crest. On the walls adjacent to the main crest, were the crests of each of the four houses.

"Um, Ron?" said Harry, prompting Ron to look over at him. Harry was fidgeting in his seat and looking very uncomfortable, "You uh- you don't have to sit with me if you- I mean, I'm fine on my own. You probably have friends you'd rather sit with."

Now it was Ron's turn to feel uncomfortable, turning so red that his freckles disappeared completely. "Um, no- no not really. I mean, there's my brothers- Fred and George- and I suppose Percy, but no friends really."

Just saying it aloud sounded pathetic and Ron felt even more like just falling through the floor and vanishing forever.

"Oh- uh- I'm sorry," said Harry quickly, "I didn't mean- never mind- er, but- what about your brothers? Don't you want to sit with them?"

Ron snorted at that, "And listen to Percy lecture for the next half an hour? Not likely."

"Percy? He's the one who showed me how to get through the barrier, isn't he?"

"That's him, the Perfect Prefect. That's what Fred and George call him- did you see them? They'd already gone through when you showed up."

"I got a glimpse I think," said Harry, "So, are all your family wizards, then?"

"Yep," said Ron, thankful that they'd managed to start a proper conversation, "There's Fred and George, they're twins. Then there's Percy- then Charlie and Bill, but they've both left school- oh, and Ginny of course, you saw her. She's our little sister."

Harry looked incredibly interested in what Ron was saying, which was a first for the red-head to be sure.

"What about you?" Ron asked, "I suppose your parents are muggles, aren't they?"

"Uh- no actually," said Harry, "They went to Hogwarts, but I grew up with my Aunt and Uncle, they're the muggles."

"Oh, so you're wizard-born then," said Ron, eyeing Harry's green jacket worriedly. It still probably meant nothing, but-

"What's your surname, again?" he asked suddenly, regretting it immediately.

"Uh-" said Harry, looking quite cornered.

"Never mind," said Ron quickly, "It doesn't matter. Forget I said anything."

'He's muggle raised,' Ron reminded himself, 'He doesn't know about the House colours yet. A green jacket doesn't make him a Slytherin.'

"So- these muggles then, what are they like?" he asked, changing the topic.

"They're all right," said Harry, looking grateful, "Well, muggles in general are. The ones I stayed with are horrible."

"Really, why?"

"They're- not that fond of magic, you could say."

"What do they do, though? I hear muggles have all sorts of mad jobs."

"Uh- well, my Uncle makes drills." said Harry, like that was an everyday thing.

"Drills?" said Ron, the word sounded familiar, "I think Dad brought one of those home from work once. Aren't they those spinning metal wands? The ones that muggles make holes with."

"Er- sort of, yeah."

"And they have a job that's just one man making them?" he asked, boggled by the idea.

"Well, no," said Harry, "He runs the company, there's lots of people that make the drills. People who move them around the country, people who sell them. My uncle mainly just sits around and yells at people."

"And he gets paid for that?"

"Apparently," said Harry with a shrug.

"What did I say; mad," said Ron, "Completely mental."

Harry laughed at that, "I've said that more than once. What about your parents, what kinds of jobs do wizards have?"

"Well, my mum's in charge of tending our orchard and keeping Fred and George from blowing the house up," said Ron, with a chuckle, "And my dad works at the Ministry-"

"Of Magic?" interrupted Harry.

"Uh- yeah," replied Ron, wondering if there was another kind of Ministry he should know about, "He works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, so he's always bringing home loads of muggle stuff. He loves muggles, thinks they're fascinating."

"Really? I thought wizards would find them boring."

"Nah, they're weird is what they are. All those mad ways they find of not using magic. Dad thinks they must all be geniuses."

"What about your brothers? What do they do, now that they've left Hogwarts?"

"Bill works for Gringotts," said Ron cheerily. His brothers' jobs were much more interesting than his father's, "He's a curse-breaker, goes down into old Egyptian tombs and fights mummies and sphinxes."

"Mummies and sphinxes?" said Harry, wide-eyed, "They really exist?"

"Course they do," said Ron, "I didn't know muggles knew about them. Do they know about dragons too?"

Harry chuckled, "Oh, yeah. They definitely know about dragons."

"My brother Charlie just got job in Romania working with dragons," Ron said proudly.

"No way," said Harry disbelievingly, "That's- that's- it's mad. Completely mental."

Ron laughed this time, "Is that what dragons are to muggles? Like drills are to wizards."

"I guess- kind of, but a lot bigger, and with more fire."

They both laughed at that one. Harry then pointed out that they should probably get their robes on, so they both reached up to open their trunks and get them. As they pulled them on over their clothes, Ron couldn't help but notice that all the books and robes in Harry's trunk were brand new. He tried to position himself so that Harry wouldn't see the state of his belongings.

"I suppose your family's pretty well off then," said Harry, as they sat back down, "I mean, working with dragons or mummies must pay really well."

Ron felt like he'd just been punched.

"Uh- uh, no actually," he said quietly, "It doesn't. Neither does Misuse of Muggle Artefacts really. I mean, we never go hungry and we have enough money to get by, but all my stuff is second hand. My robes, my pet rat, even my wand belonged to-"

Ron suddenly realised how much he was saying and snapped his mouth shut. His face was almost certainly looking like a cherry at this point. He kept his eyes down, not wanting to talk about it any more, especially not to someone who could afford a new trunk and new books and a beautiful white owl like that.

Harry however, had other ideas. "These used to be my cousin's clothes," he admitted, "All of my toys used to be his. I'd never owned anything new until I bought my school things at Diagon Alley. I mean, look at this. Does this look like my size?"

Ron looked up to see that Harry had pulled the front of his t-shirt outwards. The space between the fabric and his body was so large that Ron was certain that he could fit inside the shirt with Harry if he wanted. Ron snickered.

"What exactly was your cousin?" he asked, "A baby whale?"

Harry laughed, "I wouldn't be surprised. There was this one time, when I was six, I asked my Aunt if he really was my cousin, or if they'd just found a baby gorilla one day and decided to adopt it."

Ron was fully laughing now, "You're joking," he said, "He can't have been that big."

"Oh, he is," Harry assured him, "You know, whenever anyone asked at school, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?', everyone else would say something like an astronaut or a fire-fighter, but Dudley would always say; 'Wider than I am tall.'"

Ron was feeling much better now, even if he didn't know what an astronaut or a fire-fighter was. "Did- did he make it?" he asked between laughs.

"He's still trying. I think it's become his life's ambition at this point."

"There's no way," said Ron, "You're having me on. Nobody's that thick."

"Nobody but him," amended Harry with a grin, "Dudley Dursley is one of a kind."

Ron was about to continue by telling Harry about some of the stuff Fred and George had pulled. At that moment though, they heard the door slide open beside them.

"Excuse me," said a polite voice from the corridor, "Is there a seat going spare in here?"