Harry Potter and the Overload of Gen Z

Hogwarts and Family

At some point in time, Harry, like any other orphan, thought about his family, or lack thereof. Harry had long wished for some unknown relative to take him away. As a child, his nights were plagued with thoughts about what happened to his parents. Were they alive? Did they want him? Did he even have family out there?

Harry spared a glance outside his compartment window, looking at the families, the hugs, squeals of excitement and peals of laughter that he was not a part of. He clutched the chocolate bar and letter from Remus in his hands tighter and took a deep breath in and out. His parents were James and Lily Potter and they had Loved -with a capital L-him. He also had Remus and soon he'd also have Sirius.

Of course, there was the whole thing with messing with canon events and freeing Sirius early but in Harry's opinion, attempting to stick to canon events like it was the law was boring. B. O. R. I. N. G. He also highly doubted he had the brain power or acting skills for it. Or maybe attempting to save Sirius was part of some hidden hero/saving people complex he had. Did he have one? Harry furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, only to be startled when his compartment door slid open.

He was met by a tall and unusually gangly kid with a smattering of freckles and a shock of red hair. "Oh hey, I'm Ron Weasley," the boy said, mumbling about struggling to find a place to sit. Inviting himself into the carriage, Ron sat and Harry offered some chocolate to the rather dejected looking boy.

"You sure? It's yours, I'd rather not impose."

(Looking at the boy in front of him, he sees Bill, his friend (his older brother in all but blood) at the orphanage. He sees Bill with his kind smile and nerves that dissipate once you really get to know him, revealing a devilish charm and penchant for trouble.)

(He blinks and he sees Ron Weasley again.)

(Harry smiles and laughs in an attempt to forget that it's been a month since he last saw his friends-that he'll never see them again and that if he does one day down the line, they won't be the same.)

Harry smirked. "I have at least thirty more bars of chocolate in my bag. I insist that you take it. I'm Harry Potter by the way."

The boy had been midway in extending his hand to grab the chocolate but at the mention of his name, it seemed Ron had forgotten everything else. "You're Harry Potter? How come your hair is pink? Do you really have the scar?"

"Good questions you ask. Am I Harry Potter? Well, what does it mean to be me? And what exactly is a 'Harry Potter'? Well uh, Harry James Potter is what my birth certificate says. As for my hair, I just happened to find the colour quite fashionable." Harry actually disliked his hair-it made him look like a walking watermelon-but he honoured the bets he lost and he was going to wear his hair with pride out of spite. He then pushed his bangs out of the way to reveal his scar which elicited a loud gasp from Ron.

"Woah," the boy said dumbly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, bro. Nervous for Hogwarts, are you? I know I am."

Ron startled in his seat slightly. "Am I that obvious? Well, I wouldn't say that I'm nervous to be attending Hogwarts. I'm more excited honestly with all the stories my brothers have shared of the castle. Ugh, it's my bloody rat."

Harry leaned forward in his seat. "You have a rat?"

Ron blushed slightly at the attention he was receiving. "I do- I mean, I was supposed to. You see, my brother Percy promised me that he'd give me his pet rat Scabbers since he got a new owl; however, Scabbers disappeared before I could receive him. I was going to bring him to Hogwarts."

"Oh, that sucks," Harry commented. That's bloody awesome, once again, Remus, great job, his mind supplied. Of course he already knew all about the rat's disappearance thanks to a letter from Remus but he couldn't help but feel happy that an adult had actually listened to him and what he had to say and acted on it. He supposed he did feel a bit guilty about Ron's predicament though.