Chapter 10: First Day (Afternoon)

I was on my way to the library when I was caught up by Hermione running after me.

"What's up cutie? Are you lost? Do you want me to help you find your parents?" I said to Hermione in the tone that she would use to speak to a child, "Come with me, I'll give you candies"

"Stop joking around, I wanted to ask you if you want to come to the library with me before the next lesson" she rolled her eyes.

"Damn, kids these days are too smart, better luck next time" I said as I shook my fist "Sure, there I went, but seriously you don't want sweets, only some have sleeping pills."

She just hits my arm, and we continue walking down the hall. It didn't take that long because I had my map or maybe because Hermione has a nose for books, we'll never know.

When we entered the library we got the looks of many people, even Madam Pince stared for a while trying to process what she was seeing. Hermione seemed flustered, as she didn't know why all the eyes were directed at us, and why they were all clearly confused and shocked.

I took her by the arm and guided her to a table, pulling her out of her stupor so that she would open her eyes wide.

"Wha... like... you... and you..." She didn't finish any of her words, she just exchanged glances at the two people who looked completely alike "Red you... do... you have a twin? It was the only thing her head could try to figure out.

"yes, his name is Ron, you know him" (Clone)

"He goes to your House" (Real)

"This is another one of your pranks? How come there are two you? Who is he, or who are you? Which one is the real Red?" She stumbled over her own words.

"I am he"(real)

"And he is me" (Clone)

"And we are...well we"x2.

"Stop it, you're confusing me, that was funny enough now explain yourself"

"I think I can continue" (Clone)

"Yeah, it's fun to see you try to solve this puzzle"(Real)

"Ouch" x2.

"Ouch" x2.

We both yelled as Hermione hit the real me and then the clone, I have to find a way to try to control the shared pain. Well, I think I've had enough fun, Hermione already seems to be getting angry.

"It's a skill, it's nobody but me. He's a clone, but we share senses, so he only hits one if you're going to, don't overdo it" (Real)

"What kind of magic is this," said Hermione as she touched the clone, trying to find a difference.

"First, I told you that we share senses, now you're practically touching me" I said to see how she quickly removed her hands from my clone's body in embarrassment "And it's not any kind of magic (or well maybe it is) it's more of a personal ability that I have"

"So... how do you do it? Can you do more? How long does it last? If something happens to him, does it happen to you too?..." Shee started throwing questions one after another each time they happened without giving me time to answer them.

I stayed quiet until she, finally, realized that she wasn't talking. Then she blushed, realizing that she hadn't given me time to answer any of her questions. Meanwhile, my clone went back to reading, it was what I was mainly going to do with him at the moment, with my new abilities I will be able to read a large part of the Hogwarts library at least before finishing my student term.

"I'm sorry" said the girl almost whispering embarrassed.

"Okay, it's part of your charm, I'll answer your questions one by one, let's sit down and talk before our next class"

After that we had a brief chat where I answered most of her doubts, the others were those that I did not want her to know or that I myself did not know yet.

"That's cheating, so I'll never catch you, now it's two on one" Hermione complained looking at both of us Reds.

"It was never a competition and if it was, I would let you win if you want, I don't care much, besides it's not like I'll always have him studying just to defeat you, I have other plans, but they're secrets for the moment" I told her, but she was dissatisfied with my secrets, although she understood that it was asking a lot

Although she was outraged, she was a bit relieved that I wouldn't leave her behind. After consoling her by telling her that, apart from a few, she is one of the most diligent in the whole first year, she left that depressed attitude behind. We would have liked to continue talking, but it was time for our respective classes.

It was time to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Two-Face, I said goodbye to Hermione and left.

I didn't take that long to arrive, but it was already about time. When I was able to enter the classroom, the smell of garlic almost knocked me over directly. Professor Quirrell was acting as weak and cowardly as he was supposed to be, or so I think, the truth was that the smell was making me dizzy, and I could hardly stand it anymore. After ten minutes of class I couldn't stand it anymore, and I left the classroom abruptly, the teacher tried to call me stammering my name, but I ignored him and left there.

Once out of the classroom I told myself that I would not return, I already had enough knowledge and practice of what is given in the first year and if I was missing something I would learn it on my own. I do not plan to return to that classroom this year.

I had nothing to do, so I decided to explore Hogwarts a little more, mainly the outside, probably the black lake, Hagrid's hut and the entrance to the forbidden forest.

It was a short trip, as I was able to run more freely in the field, and I was able to go all the way around Hogwarts. Seeing how I had nothing to do momentarily because most of my friends or classmates were in class, I decided to practice my spells outside, I would have to get used to having my magical capacity reduced.

During my training I also communicated with Ginny and Luna using my [enhanced message], we chatted for a while I told them some things about the school like the classroom full of garlic.

I kept this up until my magic power couldn't take it anymore, it was also the time when my clone met Hermione in the library. My clone chatted with Hermione and was asked if he was the real one and various ways to check, but they were useless, and she couldn't figure out that he was the clone. We both got to work on our homework for today or reading about books that interested us, we also did some work on our shared book.

Meanwhile, the real me went to explore the interior of the castle, I wandered around until I decided to go to the kitchen. I can find the square with the bowl of fruit, it wasn't hard, plus there was a secret door icon on my map, so I knew it was the right place. I tickled the pear, and after it lightly giggled it turned into a goatee, so I could enter the kitchen.

Inside was a huge room where he could see how several elves seemed to be preparing dinner. I'm not going to deny that they are unattractive compared to the image of the elves in my head, it would have been nice to find beautiful elves with blonde hair and good attributes preparing our food, but I'm not going to be racist.

When I entered the kitchen, several of the elves stopped what they were doing and a group of them quickly approached me.

"What brings young master to the kitchen? Is there anything Yila can do for you?" Said an elf with a sharp voice who was standing in front of the others.

"I was looking... Also, I wanted to ask if you'd mind if I dropped by a couple of times to see how you cook and if you can answer a few questions. I really liked all the meals you made, so I wanted to see if I can learn anything"

"Sure, young master, of course, we are delighted. If you liked our food, we will prepare something for you now"

"No need, I don't want to hinder your work"

"It doesn't get in the way...it doesn't get in the way, we're making it right now" she said before jumping happily to cook something.

I watched for a while, the elves used their magic to prepare some dishes. They had brought me a few baked potatoes, it seems they knew I liked them, maybe they spy on us more than we think, or it was just a coincidence.

Until dinner time, I stayed observing there, asking questions and taking notes of what I learned, which were written by my clone in the library.

With my clone saying goodbye to Hermione in the library and asking her to go eat quietly, making her understand that she has been with the clone all this time, I also headed to the great hall for dinner.

When I met Hermione, she smacked me for cheating on her with the clone, but this time I gave her a bit of a scolding to keep her mania for hitting me from becoming a habit. This time I accompanied her to her table, but I didn't sit with her, she took it well, but seeing that I didn't go to the Slytherin table she got a little confused.

This time I didn't go to either of the previous two tables, this time I went to the Ravenclaw table. I went straight over to where Padma was sitting, put my hand on her shoulder and said "Hello Padma" matter-of-factly before sitting down next to her in full view of all the other students.

"Hello Red... what are you doing here?" She said something nervous.

"I'm here to keep you company, the other time I was at the Gryffindor table with your sister and I didn't want you to be jealous" I told her as I served me the food from the table.

"No need…" she whisper, even more nervous by my presence and the look the others were giving us.

The Ravenclaw table is silent at the moment, the older students looking at me suspiciously, while the younger ones are nervous or frightened by my presence. Nobody was comfortable.

"Okay I lied a little, if I come to see you, but I also have another friend in Ravenclaw" I told Padma that she seemed to be in an awkward position.

That put her back together. It's partly very annoying that the sum of my auras and presences make the people around me so uncomfortable, well, only the young, most adults are hardly affected due to their mental strength.

"Hey Penelope" I yelled to a girl who was further down the table.

"Hey Red, what brings you here?" She asks calmly and smiling, unlike everyone else.

"I'm here to hang out with some friends, or is it that I'm not welcome, I thought you were different" I said as I wiped away a fake tear.

"Okay" she stood up and walked towards me and putting a hand on my shoulder "hey everyone, this is Red Weasley a friend of mine, you don't need to look at him with distaste, he may look like that, but he's not bad person..." she stopped seeming to remember something" he's not such a bad person"

"For the last time, I didn't go" I complained to her.

After that, she sat next to me, on the other side of where Padma was. Everyone at the table was a bit puzzled as to how the prefect had befriended the sinister boy on the first day. Some of her close companions found out that it must be because of the relationship she has with his brother, the prefect of Gryffindor.

The first-year children, now having the company of the prefect, no longer felt so pressured. It is as if they had a place to take refuge in her and feeling safer, they no longer seemed to have that initial nervousness and little by little they relaxed guard in front of the red-haired boy.

"Thank you sister Penelope, I didn't expect you to introduce me to everyone like that. Aren't you afraid of being disowned because of me? Why did you do it?" I asked her, I didn't really ask her to do this. I just wanted to try to meet people from Ravenclaw, since I knew that Luna would enter next year, but I didn't want to cause problems for Penelope because I consider her a person who can be a friend.

"I myself have been judged several times by the Slytherin boys for having non-wizard parents, so when I see you being treated that way for something you can't control, it makes me a little infuriated. You dare to go to the tables of others without any problem and, knowing the vipers, they must not like that, I guess I try to give you a place to relax, since in your house it would be difficult for you"

"Again thank you sister Penelope, you are a good girl as I mentioned before"

"What about the 'Sister Penelope' thing that I change to start calling myself that"

"You are a pretty, older, kind girl, and you protect me. I wouldn't know how to give you enough respect, so I decided to call you as a Sister, I hope you don't mind"

"I don't think there will be a problem, maybe in the future if you can call me sister with all the right"

"Did you think about agreeing to be Percy's girlfriend?" I asked, curious as he chewed on my food.

"Yeah, I think he might give it a go in a while. We've gotten along in the past, maybe not now, but if he insists maybe in a few months…"

"Good for him"

"For him and not for me?"

"He's gaining an angel... and you, a Percy... he has too much of an advantage in this deal."

"Hahaha you're right, maybe I should make him pay more or look for more profit" she laughed as she also started to eat.

"Are you going out with his brother?" Padma who was next to me whispered.

"Yeah, he's not that bad, is he? He's not as cute as this kid here, but he's got his stuff," Penelope trailed off as she put an arm around my neck. I am a little surprised by the familiarity and trust she has in me.

"Cute? He's scary" said a boy at the table before turning pale realizing he had said it out loud. I think his name was Terry.

They all looked at him and then at me, I guess they wouldn't know how I would react. Aside from being a Slytherin who are known for being sneaky, I also had this gloomy look caused by my auras, I guess I'm categorized as one of the most dangerous at Hogwarts, and The worst of all is that it is my first day.

"Let's see. Anyone else thinks he's scary and unattractive?" Penelope asked, "raise your hand"

With that, although it took a while, they still responded to her prefect. Little by little, most of the surrounding students raised their hands, avoiding the gaze. By the end everyone had theirs up, even Padma, that was if I hurt a little.

"Alright now let's do this" she said as she pulled her wand out of her.

After shaking her, my nose grew... she continued, and now I had a big black mustache, then my teeth grew and finally some big thick framed glasses appeared. Several people contained their laughter.

"Okay, you can laugh quietly, he won't kill you. I was the one who left it like that, so at most when he goes to the bathrooms I'll be his next victim" This last one made everyone look at me again.

"You know that now with what you said I can have a worse reputation than I already have, right?"

"Sorry I didn't realize it, but that's something for the future" she laughed "well tell me what it looks like, don't be afraid" She asked the others while I caressed the tip of my mustache.

"...Funny..." said one of the girls, almost whispering.

"Yes very funny, don't you all think so, come on, you can laugh" she said as she patted me on the head that almost made me spit the food out of my mouth.

With that, several people stopped holding back and laughed. Now Penelope waved her wand once more and made the teeth disappear.

"Now it's still not scary, is it?"

After that, he undid the nose, then the mustache disappeared and finally the glasses and theet. By the time my normal face returned the entire table fell silent, everyone who had seen my transformation stopped what they were doing and stared wide-eyed.

"...It's... beautiful..." said the girl who was in front of us, almost reaching out her hand to touch my face.

"Thank you, Sue, for being the first to say it, someone else can see it now"

Almost everyone nodded to what she said and made comments about my appearance, only this time they were compliments.

"Do the same with me" said one of the children.

"Okay" and Penelope put the same things on him that she had put on me and then dispelled them, the boy waited to see how he looked, but when he asked he realized that everyone told him he looked the same, he decided to look in a mirror, and he could see that nothing had changed.

"Why you didn't make me handsome like him?" he complained aggrieved.

"Because I can't do it, I didn't do anything but show them his true appearance, his beauty is his own thing"

"But he didn't look like that before" said Padma.

"He always looked like that, only his fear didn't let them see him"

They all seemed to realize that it could be so. When they tried to remember the previous aspect of him, they only remembered the fear they felt, but not very well what he looked like.

"Now that you see how it really looks, what do you think?" She ask them with their hands extended to me as if presenting me as a work of art.

They all agreed that I looked good, some girls even looked away and didn't stare into my eyes, but not out of fear anymore but out of embarrassment and shyness.

"Well, how about now everyone can see the real you?" she asked me with a smirk on her face.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome. I'll go back to my friends, get along with your classmates, see you later" she said as she stood up and started to go back to her original seat.

I was left alone with the first years and some second years, there was a silence until the girl named Sue broke it.

"Have you always looked like this? How do you make your hair look so shiny and clean?" She ask with some embarrassment.

I answered all her questions. With the conversation, more boys and girls began to participate and ask questions. The questions ranged from my appearance to what the Slytherin dorm was like, you could see how they didn't like it by the insults they threw, but they were still curious about what the other houses were like. Many doubts were removed, and they left aside that I was from a different house, and we had a good talk beyond dinner time. Then we all said our goodbyes and went to our respective bedrooms.

My clone in the library also said goodbye to Hermione, who had been there after dinner. Rather than have him return to the bedroom, the clone put on a cloaking spell and I hid him on the seventh floor for my plans tonight.

I went back to the Slytherin common room where everyone was giving me ugly looks, I guess because of my appearance at the Ravenclaw table, but I didn't give them time to say anything and I went to my room. Once there, I prepared myself for my next plans.