They arrive at Hogsmeade station after a long journey. Ron's mind is consumed by thoughts of the Dark Lord and how to handle his newfound fame. Arcturus appears lost in thought, gazing out of the window as if he completed a puzzle long ago. Meanwhile, Rigel is engrossed in a book, so much so that one might mistake him for a Ravenclaw. The journey has been a ten-hour ride, yet Rigel continues to read a peculiar book. Hermione, however, seems to have finished her reading and is now sleeping with her head resting on Harry. They appear to be cuddling, which stirs a small surge of jealousy within Ron. But he dismisses it. Hermione and Harry had known each other and become friends before him. He is no one to them. He has no right to be jealous of this 11-year-old Hermione Granger.
Ron and Arcturus notice the mountains beside Hogsmeade from the window, so they nudge Harry and Hermione to change into their school uniforms. The boys start changing robes while Hermione waits outside the compartment for her turn. After a minute or so, they all finish changing their robes, and a voice echoes through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."
The train slowly comes to a stop. Ron is surprised to see so many students disembarking; there are twice as many as he saw during his previous years at Hogwarts. Countless new faces surround him, unfamiliar and different from those he remembers. Yet, some familiar-looking faces seem oddly altered. He notices another girl who resembles Neville. "She might be Neville's older sister," he concludes.
"First years over here, first years over here!" Hagrid's voice echoes around the train station. Ron still feels uneasy and unsettled by Hagrid's tone. But a new thought occurs to him: "Tom Riddle is not the Dark Lord, so he didn't get expelled from Hogwarts. He must have completed his Hogwarts education. But why is he still working as a gamekeeper?" He has no answer to that. There are more mysteries here than in his previous reality. Ron has a few plans on how to unravel them, but he doubts he can implement them.
Accidentally, he stumbles into another student. The student he bumped into looks up and says, "Watch where you're going, Midget, or you won't have legs to walk on next time." He's wearing a Hufflepuff badge. Ron is shocked by the open threat in front of all the students. He simply mutters an apology and quickly runs toward Harry and his group of friends.
"First years, step onto the boats, no more than 5 people per boat," Hagrid's voice echoes again. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and the two Blacks step into the same boat. They slowly move toward Hogwarts. With each passing moment, the view of Hogwarts becomes more breathtaking. Ron is finally taken aback. This Hogwarts is larger than the one he knew before. It's at least 25% bigger than his past reality, more beautiful. He notices that while the towers and buildings are the same, they appear larger and wider. All the students are silently gazing in awe at the grandeur of Hogwarts.
Slowly, they arrive in front of Hogwarts Castle. All the students are still looking at the massive castle, and no one has disembarked from the boats.
"Students, please get off the boat," Hagrid's voice startles them, and they one by one step off the boat. Hagrid leads them toward the doors of the Great Hall. An elderly lady is waiting for them.
"Alright, Gamekeeper Hagrid? Are all the students here?" she asks.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall, here they are."
"Thank you, Gamekeeper Hagrid. I can lead them from here. You can go," she says with a dismissive tone that surprises Ron. 'Is everyone here different? I can't rely on my knowledge from my previous reality.' Ron feels more disheartened than he did on the train. He hopes at least one person would behave similarly to his old reality.
Professor McGonagall leads all the first years into the Great Hall. They follow nervously. There are twice as many first-year students as in his original reality. Some students are missing, like Padma and Parvati Patil, Dean, and Seamus. He notices a girl who looks similar to Greengrass from Slytherin, but Draco Malfoy is now talking with Rigel and Arcturus in hushed tones. Hermione, next to him, is muttering spell and potion names she remembers. 'Old habits die hard,' he chuckles to himself.
Like Harry, many students are silently eyeing him. They watch him closely, as if every blink is important. Ron feels like a rabbit in an experiment, with everyone waiting for the results. He sighs with relief when Professor McGonagall begins her speech about the Hogwarts houses.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall says. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can."(A/N: Copied)
All the students listen and murmur to each other. She continues, "Form a line, and please follow me. You will be introduced to older students."
They all follow her toward the Great Hall, and all the students watch them with interest. Ron looks toward the teacher's table and sees Albus Dumbledore, who is talking to another person who appears as old as him, but certainly not 150 years old, maybe around 70. He also has a long beard like Dumbledore. Beside them, there's an empty chair. 'That should be Professor Flitwick's chair,' he thinks silently. The seat of the Charms professor is vacant. The position of the Potions professor is taken by an older woman who resembles Dumbledore. There are also Professor Sinistra, Babbling, and other teachers, the same as in his previous reality. He observes Dumbledore's conversation with the other not-so-old professor, surveys the surroundings, and realizes that there are more students here. He's more famous, and many more students know about him here than in his previous reality.
"Black Arcturus," Professor McGonagall's voice startles him. He
looks toward the sorting table to see that the Sorting Hat has finished its song long ago, and many students with last names starting with 'A' have already been sorted. There are significantly fewer students than in the previous reality.
"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat shouts, and Arcturus pulls the hat off his head, smiling as he heads toward the Slytherin table. Slytherins applaud enthusiastically.
"Black Rigel."
After a moment, the Sorting Hat places him in Ravenclaw, just as he wished on the train.
"Bones George."
"Ravenclaw."
"Bones Susan."
"Hufflepuff."
"Brown Lavender."
"Gryffindor."
"Bulstrode Millicent."
"Slytherin."
"Carrow Lisa."
"Slytherin."
"Crouch Lewis."
"Slytherin."
"Flint Marcos."
"Slytherin."
"Flint Georgina."
"Ravenclaw."
"Granger Hermione."
Ron watches Hermione try to sway the Sorting Hat, but it ultimately declares, "Gryffindor."
"Longbottom Neville."
This time, Neville's sorting doesn't take long.
Similarly, many other students are sorted. Harry is eventually sorted as well, ending up in Gryffindor as he had hoped. He sits next to Hermione, with his older twin brothers whispering something in his ear, causing Harry to turn red from embarrassment as he glances slightly toward Hermione.
Finally, "Weasley Ron."
All activity halts, and everyone looks at him. Ron feels uneasy under the scrutiny, but he one side enjoys the attention. He walks toward the Sorting Hat and places it on his head.
"Ahh, I think I've already sorted you into one house, Ronald Weasley," the Hat's voice says.
"Yes, I know, but I came here. Please sort me into Gryffindor."
"Hmmm... You can't order me, you know. I know far more than you could learn in your lifetime. I will sort you, but listen to one piece of advice: Don't try to return to your own reality. You promised not to go back there. The Room can provide you with another Hourglass, but don't use it under any circumstances. You don't know the consequences it might have."
"I can find another Hourglass in the Room?" Ron asks.
"Yes, I know even if I hadn't said anything, you would go to check for it. I'm telling you to be cautious. Don't use it, and even if you attempt to use it, don't break it."
"Why would I break it? It's my only way to go back home," Ron replies to the Hat.
"You pea brain, you've already tampered with something you shouldn't have. Do not go anywhere near that thing. I can't say more than that. If I provide direct advice, it will cause a lot of damage, more than you could ever imagine. I'm saying this because I know this conversation has been already happened form the last 150 years."
"What? I don't un-"
"Gryffindor!" The Hat interrupts his question.
All the Gryffindors start cheering and clapping for him. Every other students are proudly clapping also.Even the teachers join in. Since he's the last one, the ceremony concludes, and Ron takes a seat next to Neville. He's still trying to solve the new riddle: "One more Hourglass is in the Room." He feels warmth return to his chest, but the Hat's warning keeps echoing in his mind. The Hat says it has known about this conversation for 150 years. What could it mean? Does the Hat know about a prophecy or divination? Ron dismisses these thoughts for now; he has more immediate concerns.
Ron's thoughts are interrupted by the Headmaster's words. "Congratulations, students, on being sorted into different houses. Before we start our delicious meal—"
'BANG'
A tall, slim figure stands in the doorway. He lacks a beard but sports a shock of white hair that stands on end, a trim mustache, and mismatched eyes—one pale blue and the other dark brown. Odd by most standards. The sight of him elicits cheers from many students. Ron doesn't recognize who this man is, but Dumbledore opens his arms, and the newcomer embraces him. All the students clap at this, and Ron assumes they must know the "newcomer." He politely joins in with applause and watches as the newcomer takes a seat at the Charms professor's desk. 'Oh, another professor I don't know about,' he mutters to himself.
Dumbledore continues, "—Ah... I want to continue the statement I was making. We have three new additions to Hogwarts. Due to the retirement of my friend Horace Slughorn, our new Potions Professor will be Ariana Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore has previously worked as a healer at St. Mungo's before today. Another addition is Tom Marvolo Riddle, a former Head Auror. He will be assisting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Due to Ministry interference and a new act against non-Wizarding society, Filius Flitwick has been removed from his post. Fortunately, this year we are fortunate to have found a great Charm Master, with whom I completed my education. Our new Charms Professor will be Gellert Grindelwald."
Students cheer and whistle from all houses. However, one 11th-year Gryffindor student is about to faint from shock. His name is Ronald Weasley, the Boy Who Lived
Ron doesn't hear what Dumbledore said next or what they did next. He is just vacant. His mind is screaming only one thing: What is happening here? Food seems to have appeared, but Ron has no appetite to touch it. He glances toward the head table to see three people talking and joking with each other. He still can't believe his eyes. There is Grindelwald and Voldemort on each side of Dumbledore, and they are talking with each other in a civil manner.
Ron is still looking toward the three teachers. Then all three of them turned toward him. Dumbledore smiled at him. Grindelwald is looking at him with curiosity, Tom Riddle is looking at him with no reaction at all. Suddenly, someone tapped on his shoulder. He felt a sharp pain in his scar on the forehead. As fast as it had come, it goes. Ron tries to look around to see what has caused it. But he couldn't find it. He couldn't even know who tapped his shoulder.
Ron has wanted to know about this Grindelwald, so he asked him about Neville. Neville answered.
"Grindelwald is a three-time Minister of the French Ministry. He has come to Britain many times and fought with the Dark Lord more than any person. The Dark Lord has captured three large countries, including Britain, during the time of Professor Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. Dumbledore and Grindelwald united and fought with him for at least five years. Due to the help of France and Grindelwald, the Dark Lord backed down with his followers. Due to this, many civilians didn't die in the war. If minister Grindelwald didn't help us, our country would have been in ruins.And Dark lord would have ruling over us."
"Why does everyone call him the Dark Lord and not his own name?"
"I don't know. But my grandmother says she knows about him during her time at Hogwarts. He was the best gossip topic when she was
11 years old. He never gave his name to anyone. He even studied here with a false name. And he has no birth certificate in the Ministry. Every magical child born here is always recorded in the Ministry file automatically, and you cannot remove it by any means. But his name is not anywhere in the record. He just appeared out of thin air." Neville replied to Ron. Ron is shocked at this. 'how could it even be possible, fooling records.' But he has to know more than this. Neville seems to know more than Harry does on this matter. So he asked the next question.
"Surely his friends and his own classmates should know his name, isn't it?"
"All the people who knew his real name were brutally killed, even Hogwarts Headmaster. And most of his own friends at his time were killed by his own hand. His followers didn't even see his real face. He always hid his face with a large hood. But when he was fighting, many people saw that he had a large red hair like Weasleys. But most of it is just rumors. Those who really knew him and his face have already died. Even if anyone finds it, they wouldn't want to whisper his real name because anyone who knows his name has been killed and hanged on the Ministry building mysteriously before you defeated him. Sometimes his followers with white masks and black robes are sighted in crowded areas. But no one knows about him. His followers hide in plain shadow. I might be one of his followers, and you will not know about it." Neville clarified.
"How do you know this much information, Neville? Many don't know."
"Ohh, many people know about it. They don't give it away. Ministry people don't want to give any information about the Dark Lord to the public because everyone fears that if anyone even prints about him they will be killed. Even telling others about it will get them killed. So no one wants to talk and tell others about it. Minister Grindelwald, Professor Dumbledore, and Head Auror Riddle are some people who could tell you more than me. You are the Boy Who Lived, the only one who can defend us. And I know more than others because my Grandmother is 120 years old. She knows many things and tells me about it."
"What about his agenda? How could he gain so many followers?"
"Don't know about this, mate. My grandmother says he gave them the lure of power, but I beg to differ.He has many followers outside of Britain, most in Germany and Poland," Neville continues. "He started a campaign to unite the whole magical world into a single kingdom and take it over. He has succeeded so far. He has almost control over half of the magical ministries all over the world, and he rules in three countries at once. Before France intervened."
"Surely you're exaggerating?" Ron asked, his mouth hanging open.
"Why would I? Didn't I say he was at school before Dumbledore and my grandmother attended? Don't you think he had so much time to spread his powers until you defeated him?"
"So people outside Britain also know my name?"
"Of course, you are known in all magical countries," Neville answered, finishing his meal.
Ron has wished to become Famous and Powerful but he didn't want himself this much famous. This will do lot of harm than benefits.In another hand Ron gains some new information, and it's filled with more and more mystery. Not a single person has known the real Dark Lord. He could be hiding at Hogwarts, and no one will know. Ron could feel dread pass to his core. Ron is still trying to eat something, but his appetite is long gone.