-Chapter Twenty Four-

The Adventures Of Ron Weasley

All around him was darkness. It was so thick that he could barely breathe. He thrashed around inside of it desperately. He had to get out!

Ron flung himself forwards and was surprised to find himself in his bed at home. He took a deep breath. It had just been a bad dream. Relieved, Ron moved to get out of bed and was surprised to find his body covered in a cold sweat. What had shaken him so much? Was it that dream? It had been about… been about… Ron found he couldn't remember anymore. Dismissing the thought, Ron quickly dressed and headed downstairs.

His mother beamed at him as he entered. "Here he is! Hogwarts' newest student!"

Ron's stomach lurched. Today was the day! How could he have forgotten? Ron frowned at this thought. How HAD he forgotten? It felt like he had been doing something else not too long ago…

"Sit!" ordered his Mum suddenly. "Breakfast will be ready soon, then we must pack your things." Ron sat at the table, his thoughts instantly turned what was coming.

It wasn't long before Fred, George and Percy arrived. "Aww, ickle Ronnie's all growing up!" said George, wiping away a mock tear from his eye.

"Get lost, George!" snapped Ron.

"Don't be like that!" laughed Fred "Otherwise we won't give you advice on taking down the troll, or how to get through the maze (1)!"

"Stop it!" snapped their Mother. "Leave him alone and eat your breakfast!You'd better not be like this to him all year!"

"Don't worry Mum," said Percy rather pompously, placing an arm around Ron. "I'll be there to look after him." Ron didn't find this particularly comforting. "Where's Dad?" he asked, hoping to change to the subject.

"He had to go to work early today. Now eat up! We're going to be late at this rate."

Ron ate his breakfast quickly, doing his best to block out Fred and George's jeering and Percy's attempts at giving advice. Once done he quickly excused himself and hurried upstairs to pack.

It wasn't until he was upstairs that he realized something was wrong. The corridor was darker than he remembered. And he could sense something. A presence, like somebody was standing just out of view ad watching him intently…

"Ron!" squealed Ginny, emerging from her room and hugging him tightly, making Ron jump. "I really really wish I was going!"

"Yeah, alright, get off!" cried Ron, pushing her away, annoyed at how paranoid he was getting. "I've gotta pack" He said, pushing past Ginny roughly and disappearing into his room to prevent her asking him any questions.

They arrived at the station later and were soon on Platform 9 3/4. Ron had been growing increasingly nervous on the journey, not helped by Fred and George's constant teasing of what to expect. They entered quickly and were soon the platform with the Hogwarts Express waiting for them.

"Not now Ginny… Now, you're gonna look after him aren't you?" Their Mother asked Fred and George, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"'Course!" laughed Fred "But with all of the Trolls and Giants and…"

"That's enough!" snapped their Mother. 'If Ron comes back saying that you two have been like this all year I won't - oh, what is it Ginny?" she said, finally turning towards Ron's sister.

"Who are those people over there? They're dressed all funny!" asked Ginny, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Ron looked over to where she had been looking. Despite wearing the same clothes as everyone else, the family - a father, mother and a young girl around Ron's age - stood out somehow. Maybe it was the mutual look of wonder and apprehension on their faces as the parents talked to the young girl like it was all as new to them as it was to her.

"I bet she's a muggle-born!" said George excitedly. "Brilliant!"

"Shush, they'll hear you," said their Mother. "Now help Ron get his trunk on board."

All too soon the train was whistling that it was time to go (2) and before Ron knew it his Mother had said her goodbyes and he was on the train and it was moving and…

Ron leaned back from the window and looked around. This was it then. He was on the way to Hogwarts.

He wasn't the only one finding it all a bit daunting. A bunch of nervous-looking first years walked past him and disappeared into one of the compartments, jumping at any of the older children who said hello to them.

Deciding to find a compartment of his own, Ron made his way down the train, struggling with his heavy trunk. Fred, George and Percy had all vanished somewhere, leaving him alone. All of the comportments he passed were full, but eventually he found an empty one at the end of the train.

At least he thought it was empty, but as Ron approached it he realized that there was somebody standing inside, seemingly staring right at him. Ron couldn't help but fell a little uneasy.

"Is this one taken?" he asked, pulling open the door and turning around to force his bag into it. There was no answer behind him and when he turned to repeat the question the compartment was empty. Ron blinked and looked around. He could have sworn that he saw someone… He shrugged. At least he'd found somewhere to sit.

After a few minutes of simply staring out the window the door opened and a girl leaned in. It was the girl who Fred and George had said was muggle-born. "Is it alright if we sit in here?" she asked, walking in and sitting down before Ron could say anything, much to his annoyance. Behind her came a round-faced boy. Ron started in surprise. "Hey, aren't you -?"

"Neville Longbottom, yes!" said the boy, sounding both scared and exasperated. "Please don't go on at me, I've just had a bunch of people hold me up back there to talk to me…" he shuddered, clearly not happy with all of the attention he was getting.

Ron couldn't help but stare. The famous Neville Longbottom! Ron wanted to ask him what it had been like on that night - The Triumph of the Longbottoms Against Lord Voldemort all those years ago was still talked about to this very day.

"This is all very exciting," said the girl. "My name's Hermione Granger, what's yours?"

"Ron Weasley." said Ron.

"So what do you think of all this?" asked Hermione. "I've read up on Hogwarts in several books but I guess it's not the same as in real life is it? Have you tried any spells? I've tried a few at home since my abilities were first discovered but nothing special, just making things fly, making lights, that sort of thing. Had a go at transfiguration as well but it's harder than it looks. How about you?"

Ron and Neville looked at each other in confusion.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" cried Professor Dumbledore, his voice echoing around the Great Hall. "All of you new students will learn a lot of new, fascinating subjects!" He beamed down at everybody sitting at the house tables. "But all that starts later. For now, eat!"

Ron smiled as food appeared on all of the plates. He was starving. He tucked in instantly. Beside him Hermione and Neville did the same, Neville doing his best to ignore what people were saying about him. Truth be told, Ron found the pair slightly annoying, but was grateful to have made some friends at least.

"Blimey, I've no idea what Snape's going on about," moaned Ron, looking up from his Potions homework. He looked over at Hermione, who was rolling up her parchment. "It's only going to get harder Ron," she pointed out. She picked up Neville's homework while he was distracted talking to the other students and insisting that he had nothing to do with Voldemort's downfall.

"Hermione, look out!" cried Ron, throwing himself and Hermione aside, Quirrell's spell hitting the spot they had been a split second later. They took cover behind a desk that Neville was cowering behind, trying to frantically think up some spells.

"Foolish children," hissed Quirrell. "Did a bunch of first years think they could take on the most loyal servant of the Dark Lord?" As if to emphasise the pot he fired a round of spells at the desks next to the one they were crouching behind, sending them all flying.

Ron was terrified and no spell could come to his head. He felt Hermione's hand on his. "I think I've got an idea…" she hissed. "If we were to hit him at the same time…?"

Ron nodded wordlessly and braced himself. He wasn't sure if ny first year spells could effect Quirrel but it might buy them time to escape. Hermione began to countdown. "3…"

"Perhaps your bodies will serve to show how close the return of the Dark Lord is," said Quirrell.

"2…"

"Especially that of his target all those years go," laughed Qurriell, now talking to Neville. "With your death he will be invincible."

"1…"

Quirrell raised his wand. "Yes, we shall start with -"

"NOW!" cried Hermione. Both she and Ron leapt to their feet, wands raised…

"Look, do you see who it is?"

"It's Ron Weasley! He helped Neville Longbottom defeat Professor Quirrell last year!"

"No way! He's actually friends with Neville Longbottom?"

Ron rolled his eyes. Did these people honestly think he couldn't hear them? Ever since the climatic events at the end of his first year he, Hermione and Neville had been the subject of a lot of gossip around Hogwarts. They felt like they were a bunch Destrals (3). He had to admit that he was annoyed that Neville was receiving all of the credit, especially since it had been Hermione's quick thinking that saved them. And what some of them were saying was so farfetched he couldn't figure out how they had come to such conclusions.

A particularly starstruck group of first year girls suddenly appeared in front of them. "Hi Ron!" one of them squeaked brightly, turning a bright red in the progress. "Is it true that you fought Professor Quirrell in a duel single-handed?'

Before Ron could answer the other girls started asking and before he knew it he was bombarded with questions. "What spells did you use?" "Was it scary?" "Would you do it again?"

Shrugging them off, Ron ducked down one of the other corridors and hurried away from them. The sooner he was back in the Gryffindor Common Room the better.

Ron narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at his surroundings. Was it him or was the corridor getting darker? The torches on the walls didn't seem to be giving out much light all of a sudden…

"Ron…"

Ron froze. "Who's there?" he cried. He felt a chill go down his spine. There was someone down at the far end of the corridor. Their face was in shadow but Ron could somehow tell that they were looking right at him.

"Who are you?" he shouted, walking forwards determinedly.

Suddenly the corridor seemed to grow brighter again, revealing the clearly empty corridor ahead of him. Ron froze on the spot. Had that been a ghost? Ghosts were usually a bit more friendly than that…

"I'm sure it is just your imagination. " said Hermione dismissively.

Ron glared at her. He'd thought she'd be a bit more supportive of him after his encounter and with her constant reading of Hogwarts - A History he'd hoped she might have found something in there that old explain it. He turned to Neville to see what he thought. "It does seem very unlikely," said Neville, not meeting Ron's gaze and trying his best to ignore a group of first years who were all staring right at him. "My Parents and my Gran all came here before I did and they've never mentioned anything like that ever happening."

Ron was about to reply when he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his neck. 'Hello ickle hero!" said George, hugging Ron tightly.

"Gerroff!" cried Ron, struggling unsuccessfully.

Behind them Fred laughed. "We'v noticed all of the attention you've been getting since last year and thought you could do with these." He reached into his pocket and held up a wad of papers for Ron to see.

"Signed photos of you when you were just a baby!" said Fred, laughing his head off. "Bet you they'll sell like hot cakes!"

"Why don't you just grow up?" snapped Hermione suddenly, glaring at the twins. Fred and George both laughed and walked away, jokingly calling out if anybody would like to buy the photos. "They're only messing around you know," said Ron.

"Well they shouldn't be so rude about it," said Hermione, returning to her homework. Ron couldn't help but smile at this.

It was during lunch break when Ron heard it. They were eating in the Great Hall when he heard someone call his name, but when he turned around he couldn't make out who had said it. "Did you hear who that was?" He asked. "Hear what?" asked Hermione, while Neville just shook his head without looking up from his food. Ever since the incidents with Quirrell in the first year and the Hydroleigh (4) in the second Neville was doing his very best to keep a low profile, not helped by his repeated exploits. Ron always thought that he'd enjoy having a reputation like Neville's, but then Neville's parents had been the ones to finally defeat the Dark Lord. Ron certainly had thought that Neville would have been better at lessons then he was though.

"I thought I heard someone calling me," said Ron, scanning the room once again. "No idea who it was though."

He sat back down and registered that Hermione was giving him a funny look. "What?"

"Ron, are you okay?" she asked. "No one said anything."

"But I heard it!" protested Ron. "I definitely heard it. It's like that ghost I keep seeing."

But now both Hermione and Neville were giving him funny looks. Ron frowned. "You do believe me don't you?"

It happened again during Defence Against The Dark Arts. Ron was trying to follow what Professor Willow was talking about when he suddenly heard the voice behind him. "Ron…"

Ron spun around in his seat. "WHAT?" he bellowed.

Dean Thomas looked back at him in surprise. The whole class fell silent. "Something to share, Ron?" asked Professor Willow finally.

Ron sat back down, too embarrassed to do anything else.

Fortunately for Ron he didn't have any more encounters with the persistent ghost for the rest of the year. However he did notice something else - Hermione was becoming increasingly short with both him and Neville and she had started to disappear at odd times.

Things came to a head one evening when Ron found her alone and fast asleep over a huge pile of books. He went over and shook her by the shoulder. "Hermione?"

Hermione awoke with a start and looked around in confusion. "Wh-what time is it? Where am I?"

"In the common room. It's around half 10."

Hermione shrieked and leapt to her feet, fumbling through her pockets frantically. "How can I have slept through the whole afternoon? I've got to -" A golden amulet fell out of her pocket. Ron caught it before it landed on the ground. "What's this?" he asked, looking closely at it. It seemed to have an hourglass in the middle.

"A Time Turner, give it back!" snapped Hermione, snatching it from him. "I've got to go back and catch up on what I missed." She fumbled with the Time Turner and cursed as it slipped from her fingers.

"You're using a Time Turner?" asked Ron incredulously. "For lessons?"

"Yes," replied Hermione, "Professor McGonagall gave it to me. Because of all of the subjects I've signed up for it's the only way I can attend all of them." She tried to operate the Time Turner again, only to give up and sitting back onto her chair. "I'll go back in a bit, I'm so tired…"

"Have you ever thought of dropping a few subjects?" asked Ron. "Because you look like you can't handle it!" he said hurriedly as Hermione glared at him.

"I don't know…"

Ron snatched up her timetable and scanned it intently. "Well you can give up Dvination, you're always moaning about how rubbish it is… And why are you doing Muggle Studies? That can go…"

Hermione smiled up at him. "Thanks".

After a relatively quiet third year the school was in a furore. The Triwizard Tournament was coming to Hogwarts! Ron couldn't believe it. He knew that there was no chance of him entering, but watching it should be really something. The only bad thing about it all was that he couldn't try out for the Qudditch Team just yet, but on reflection he definitely wasn't good enough yet.

"Ron…"

Oh no, not now… Ron looked around and wasn't surprised to see the shadowy figure at the far end of the corridor. "Who are you?" demanded Ron, storming forwards.

He expected the figure to disappear as he approached it but it didn't. Instead, for a split second Ron found himself face to face with a person, not much older than him. the only features he could make out were a pair of glasses and a scar of some sort on it's -

The figure vanished.

Suddenly he was back in the darkness. He felt like he was suffocating. Only this time, there was someone else there.

"Ron?"

He could see them not too far away. They had their back to him hands outstretched as if looking for something.

"Ron?"

Ron stretched his hand out to him. He opened his mouth to call out to him. Somehow he knew this person's name.

"Hhhhhh-"

For some reason it wouldn't come out. Ron tried again. "Hhhhhhaaaaaaa-"

Ron opened his eyes and sat up in alarm. That dream had been so vivd… He had had it several times now and each time it seemed more vivid, each time it lingered in his memory for a little longer. What was happening to him? Was he going insane?

Ron shot forwards on his broom and caught the quaffle one handed before launching it back over the heads of the Ravenclaw Chasers. Below him the crowd erupted into a mass of cheering students. Ron hovered there, enjoying it all immensely.

When he had started his fifth year he'd never thought he'd get onto the Qudditch team after Oliver Wood had left and yet here he was! He looked down at the sea of changing faces and quickly spotted Hermione's beaming face in the crowd. He smiled down at her.

But there was something else. He felt his gaze drawn to it. There in the shadow of one the goals, there was someone standing there, blending with the shadow almost perfectly.

Ron dived towards it almost without thinking. He had to see who it was, he had to! He ignored the surprised looks of everyone around him, staring intently at the figure…

… A figure that was no longer there, if it had ever been there at all. Ron blinked and pulled up. Had he imagined it?

He suddenly became aware of the shouts of everyone around him and realized how this all looked. Shouting apologies he quickly flew back up to the goals, his face flushing a deep scarlet as he did so. He looked down at Hermione in the middle of the jeering faces. Ron smiled apologetically at her, even though she probably couldn't see it.

"So I understand that you are having problems with a spectre, Mr. Weasley."

Ron shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Dumbledore stared at him intently over this desk. Unexpectedly he smiled kindly. "There is no need to be surprised. Madame Pomfrey and Professor Willow alerted me to your crisis."

Ron nodded wordlessly. He had tried talking to both members of staff when the 'spectre' as Dumbledore put it, had become particularly frequent. They had tried recommending several charms and ailments to him and for a time it seemed like they had worked, but whatever it was had kept on coming back. Finally the other student had started to notice and it was beginning to affect his work. The attempts by other students to fake it in order to affect his Qudditch playing hadn't helped.

He hadn't told anyone about the dream, it didn't seem to occur as much as the spectre did and he had thought that it would disappear when the spectre did as well.

"It certainly is a most interesting case. I have looked into the matter quite extensively and have found nothing like it," said Dumbledore, gesturing to a pile of books on the side of the desk. "I am unfortunately forced to come to the conclusion that it is all in your head."

Ro's heart sank. He had been hoping this wasn't the case, but it was true. He was cracking up. He'd never cut it as a wizard…

"Don't worry," said Dumbledore kindly. "It happens to a lot more people than you'd think. The pressure os learning the magical arts can be very great and daunting to students, especially for those in the latter years of Hogwarts, such as yourself."

"So what are you saying, sir?" asked Ron.

"Ignore it," said Dumbledore simply. "Focus on your studies and being with your friends and family. Soon you will no longer be bothered by it."

Coming from Dumbledore, the advice seemed to make a lot of sense and Ron took it to heart. He saw the figure a few times over the next few months but forced himself to not look at it or acknowledge its existence in any way. Gradually the figure began to appear less distinct, until finally Ron wasn't seeing it at all. At the same he found that he had the recurring dream less and less. For the first time in a long while, he finally began to feel comfortable in his surroundings.

Oddly enough whenever Ron looked back on his time at Hogwarts he found his memories seemed fragmented, as if the entire thing had passed by in one long blur apart from a few select moments. But one day that would stand out for him forever was their last day at Hogwarts.

It was a very muted day for the Seventh Years. Whereas all of the other students would be coming back they were not (5). A lot of Seventh Years were very emotional on their last day.

Ron was alone in his dormitory packing when Hermione walked in. "All set?"

"Yeah," said Ron, closing and shutting his trunk. "You okay?"

Hermione nodded but he could see that she was close to tears. He moved forwards and embraced her. Hermione sighed. "I am going to miss everything here so much."

She leaned back and looked at him, their arms still around each other. Without even thinking they started to lean in towards each other…

"Guys?" said a voice. They both froze. Standing in the doorway was Neville, looking as downcast as anybody who had final results like his would be. "Its time to go. Ready?"

Ron nodded breathlessly as Hermione hastily left the room without looking at either of them. "Yeah mate, I'm ready." He grabbed his trunk and followed after them, leaving the room and Hogwarts behind him.

Appendix

(1) Although said in jest there were in fact plans for what was dubbed a "Chosen Course" planned for Hogwarts when it was originally founded. The concept was that each student would have to make their way through a gauntlet of challenges (accounts differ as to the nature of the course, with some sources saying it was a path through the Forbidden Forest and others saying it was a maze of corridors within Hogwarts itself). The general idea was that only the highest calibre of students would get through and thus give Hogwarts a very high standard of students. The idea was scrapped due to the fact that it would take too long for each individual student to do it and, more importantly, it was a bit unfair. Although Salazar Slytherin is thought to have come up with the idea (due to his own beliefs) it has never been confirmed who the idea originated from.

(2) Sounds like something from a kid's TV show.

(3) A creature related to Thestrals. Unlike their bad omen-related cousins the Destral can only be seen when one feels truly happy about themselves. As such Destrals tend to draw large crowds of people, who are just simply happy that they are able to see them.

(4) A large water-dwelling creature that looks like a spider except with a body that is said to be actually be physically made of water, although the creature is seldom seen and is very dangerous. Feraldin Furoe's book, the posthumously published 'Life on the Lake - The Behaviour Pattern of the Hydroleigh' is the only real source of information on the creature.

(5) Although in unfortunate mixup involving House Elves, exam results and the kindling for the fires did mean that the Seventh Years of '87 had to return and retake their exams.