𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 1)

𝓗𝓸𝓰𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓔𝔁𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼

As the train moves out of the station, Ginny chases after it.

Harry and Y/n watch her from the window until she drops back. King's Cross, and the life they've known, drift away.

The train whips past fields, small country lanes.

𓂀♡︎❦︎༒︎𖣔✵𓆙𐂃꧁꧂

They sit quietly. Then the compartment door slides open. Ron stands there. Seeing Y/n and Harry, he hesitates.

"Do you mind is I sit here? Everywhere else is full."-Ron

"Not at all."-Harry

"I’m Ron, by the way.Ron Weasley."

" I’m Harry.Harry Potter"

"And I'm Y/n Black."

"Is it true? I mean, have you really got the...you know..."

"The what?"-Harry

"The scar.."

They move their hair and show their scars.

"Wicked."

"Are all your family wizards?"-Y/n

"I think so. Well, Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant. But we never talk about him. I heard you two went to live with Muggles. What are they like?"

"Horrible. Well, not all of them. Ours are, though. Trade them for three wizard brothers any day."-Harry

"Five. I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others. But if I do, it's no big deal because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes. Charlie's old wand. Even Scabbers used to be Percy's..."

Ron reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fat, gray, seemingly unconscious, rat.

Hardly ever wakes up. He's useless basically. Percy got an owl for making Prefect, but Mum and Dad couldn't afford-- I mean, I got Scabbers instead.

Roh looks embarrassed. Just then, a dimpled woman pushing a trolley full of sweets pops her head in.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Ron mumbles 'No thanks, I'm all set." and takes out a lumpy sandwich. Harry and Y/n study him, then dig into their pockets, heavy with coins.

"We'll take the lot." They say together.

𓂀♡︎❦︎༒︎𖣔✵𓆙𐂃꧁꧂

Spread out on an empty seat. Harry and Y/n marvel at the strange, wondrous candies before them.

"'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans'?"-Y/n

"They mean every flavor. There's chocolate, peppermint...but you can also get liver or spinach or tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavored one once."

"These aren't real frogs, are they?"-Harry

Harry holds up a pack of chocolate frogs—something is wriggling under the foil—then sees that Ron already has a very realistic leg squirreling out the corner of his mouth.

"Just a spell. Besides, it's the card you want. Each pack's got a Famous Witch or Wizard. Got about 500 myself. Watch it!"

As Harry breaks the foil on his pack, the frog springs into the air and out the open train window.

"That's rotten luck. They've only got one good jump in them to begin with."

Harry and Y/n glance at the card in Harry's hand. On it, there's a man with a crooked nose, long silver beard, and half-moon glasses. Underneath is a name: Albus Dumbledore.

"I've got Dumbledore!"-Harry

"I've about six of him. I'll trade you Scabbers though, if you get Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Harry reads the back of his card.

"'Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the 12 uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Approximately one hundred and fifty years old, Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music, tenpin bowling, and..."

He looks up.

"One hundred and fifty years old?"-Y/n

Thought he'd be older, did you?

"No--I--"-Y/n

"Hey, he's gone."-Harry

Harry holds up the card-now blank--to Ron and Y/n, Ron only shrugs.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?"

"It's just, in the Muggle world, people stay put in photos."-Harry

"Really? They don't move at all? Weird!"

Just then, Scabbers emerges out of a 'Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans' and falls back asleep.

"Pathetic, isn't he?"

"Just a little bit."-Y/n and Harry

"Fred gave me a spell that's to turn him yellow. Want to see?""

Harry and Y/n nod, eager to see some magic. Ron pulls out a battered wand--just as the compartment door opens and a girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth looks in. She is already wearing her school robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one. Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see then."-Hermione

She sits down. Ron looks a bit taken aback, but clears his throat nonetheless and points his wand at Scabbers.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."-Ron

Scabbers remains fat, grey, and asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it? I've only tried a few simple ones myself but they've all worked for me. For example..."

To Harry's surprise, Hermione takes her wand, points it directly over his brow, then...stops.

"Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter, and you're Y/n Black! I know all about you, of course. I was doing a little recreational reading and you're in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century."

"Are we?"-Y/n

"Didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me."

She then raises her wand.

"Anyway...Oculus Reparo."

Instantly, the cracked bridge of Harry's glasses is mended.

"There. That's better, isn't it? I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. And you are...?"

Ron is still staring at the glasses, feeling a bit outdone.

"Um...Ron Weasley." He says with his mouth full.

"Pleasure. Do any of you know what House you'll be in? I'm hoping for Gryffindor--I hear Dumbledore himself was in it--but I think I might just die if they put me in Slytherin. That was You-Know-Who's House. Anyway, you three had better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon. You've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

As she exits, Harry and Ron just sit, staring at the door. While Y/n leaves the compartment to change into her robes.

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