Chapter 2 - First Spells

The morning light made Ron wake up. He ended up forgetting to close the red curtains on the window before falling asleep.

The house was still quieter than usual, indicating that everyone must still be sleeping. Ron quietly got up and started to get ready for the new day.

In the corner of the room, he noticed a dusty old suitcase with the initials 'R.W.' on it. It was probably what he would take to Hogwarts in a month.

He reached out to lift the suitcase. The suitcase was a little heavy, but the moment he pulled it, the top handle of the suitcase came off, causing Ron to stagger backwards.

He took a few clumsy steps trying to balance and held on to the bed.

'A broken handle... I found out about some spell like that yesterday.' Ron thought.

Ron silently retrieved the wand from the top shelf and stopped in front of the suitcase. He was silent for a few seconds, trying to hear if anyone was around.

Ron pointed his wand at the suitcase and said firmly:

"Reparo!".

A short trail of magic left his wand, heading towards the suitcase. The suitcase handle quickly fixed itself without any effort.

Ron let out a small smirk, proud of having learned something so quickly, but the feeling didn't last long, because when he least expected it, something caught his attention from across the room.

A big, fat rat was trapped inside the cage, pacing back and forth. It looked impatient.

Ron approached the cage studying the mouse.

'Scabbers, or rather… Wormtail.'.

He thought as he stared at the mouse, but without expressing any reaction. Ron knew Wormtail was on his side, but he also knew that Wormtail wouldn't do anything bad for a long time. For a few seconds, he even considered ending the rat's life at once, but he remembered that he would need the animal alive to be able to discharge Sirius Black.

Beside the cage, a letter was folded asymmetrically and slightly dented by an owl's talons.

Ron took the letter in his hands and opened it gently, curious as to what it would be.

It was a letter from Hogwarts.

In the letter was written the day that classes would start, September 1st, and the entire list of materials that needed to be purchased. Ron had no idea how much they cost, but given the length of the list, it was going to be expensive anyway.

"Already awake?".

Molly appeared in the doorway of Ron's room, holding an old sweatshirt. She had a sleepy expression.

Ron quickly stuffed his wand into his pants pocket before his mother could notice. He didn't want her to find out, as she would scold him again.

"Put this on! I'll wake up your brothers. We need to leave soon. Have you seen what you need to buy?".

Molly glanced at Ron, seeing Ron with his hair in disarray as he held the Hogwarts letter in his hands.

"I just read it again. It's a pretty long list…"

Ron replied, handing the letter to Molly.

Molly took the letter from Ron and began to read.

"Wow, it's expensive materials and books… Well, we'll manage! Luckily, we got your wand last month, and you can use last year's books from your brothers, so we don't have to worry so much."

Molly said with a welcoming smile.

"I'll make breakfast and wake your brothers up. Get ready so we can go!"

Molly handed him the red sweatshirt.

Ron straightened up and put some kibble in Scabbers' cage, trying not to touch the animal. He wasn't disgusted or afraid of rats, but knowing that wasn't the true form of it made Ron very uncomfortable treating it like an ordinary pet.

As everyone got up, he decided to rummage through the drawers in his room to pass the time.

In the midst of some old underpants and disposable caps, he found a huge collection of collectible cards that came inside a package of chocolate frogs.

None had the design of wizards stamped on them. They were all black where wizards should be. He could only identify the repeated cards by name, number and description. Although he found the workings of the cards interesting, he ultimately considered them pointless. There was no point in keeping a black card. The wizarding world was a bit strange.

A while later, he realizes that everyone in the house is already awake, so he goes down to the first floor.

Upon arriving, the brothers are eating some cookies that Molly had prepared. The only one who was dressed up was Percy out of all the brothers.

"Take these water bottles. I will not buy water for anyone there!"

Molly said, handing some old bottles to her children and heading towards the fireplace, calling everyone close.

She picked up a dark gray bowl with some strange powder in it. It looked like ashes.

"Who goes first?".

Molly asked excitedly.

Ron took a small step back so as not to be first. He didn't remember exactly what he was supposed to do, so he preferred to wait for someone else to take the initiative.

Percy took a step forward, causing Molly to offer the powder from the inside of the bowl.

Percy walked over to the fireplace and held some of the powder in his hands. Then he reached out his hand and let the powder fall to the ground as he firmly said:

"Diagon Alley!"

When the powder hit the ground, an explosion of emerald green flames shot out of the ground quickly, engulfing Percy's body who was gone in seconds.

Ron's eyes widened in awe.

The next were the twin brothers Fred and Jorge, who seemed to want to bet on who would finish first.

"Come on Ron. Get the Floo Powder here."

Molly said, offering the jar to Ron.

Ron walked over to the fireplace. He was a little afraid of doing it wrong, but his excitement was greater.

Ron took the Floo Powder and threw it on the ground, firmly saying the name Diagon Alley.

Then, a burst of emerald green flames engulfed Ron's body. He quickly closed his eyes with fright, but in less than 2 seconds, he began to hear the sound of people talking and movement around him.

"What are you doing?".

Percy asked Ron, who had his eyes closed and his body a little retracted.

Ron opened his eyes slowly and saw the new environment they were in.

"Has it been so long since you used Floo Powder?"

Percy asked, with a short, calm laugh.

Ron took a few steps forward, looking around in awe. The crowd of people milling about was a little overwhelming, but the enchanted objects distracted Ron enough that he didn't mind.

Owls were scattered around the corners of the place, flying back and forth. Witches walked everywhere, in long, colorful robes, with funny hats on their heads.

"Look at this!".

Fred and George ran towards a nearby store.

"It's the new Nimbus 2000!".

George said, while the two had their hands and faces glued to the shop window, admiring an exposed broom.

Ron approached them, looking for the broom. It was big and beautiful, with gold trim around the base. It really was an amazing broom.

"I would give anything to have one of these!"

Fred said, his eyes twinkling.

"Then you better get the Laurels shop out of your mind! If not, you'll never get one of these."

Molly appeared behind them, trying to pin the boys.

Soon after, she walked away holding Ginny's small hand tightly so she wouldn't get lost.

Ron decided to follow his mum while the two brothers remained in the shop window, staring at the new broom.

Molly was walking towards the bookstore to buy the requested books, but before they could go inside, Ginny stopped walking, pulling Molly's arm towards a small candy stand at the side of the bookstore.

"Mom, please, let's buy some candy!"

Ginny said, pulling Molly's arm excitedly.

"We don't have time for this, honey. We need to buy your brothers' books!"

Molly replied, trying to pull Ginny by the arm.

"Come on, Mom! Only one. Please please please…".

Ginny repeated, pouting desperately to go to the candy stand.

Ginny wasn't a sullen or ill-mannered girl, but she was still a child with a sweet tooth. It was normal for her to have very childish attitudes.

"Okay, but just get some candy!"

Molly said, walking towards the candy stand.

Before Ron could follow them, he looked into the library and saw a very familiar image. A small girl with light brown messy hair is searching for a book.

Ron glanced at Molly, seeing if she was noticing, and headed towards the bookshop quickly.

He started walking slowly through the halls, curious if it really was who he thought she was. She had probably also come to buy school supplies.

In a moment of distraction, Ron started looking at the books in front of him. Many interesting titles popped up in front of his eyes. 'Quidditch Through the Ages'; 'Great Sages of the 20th Century'; 'Hogwarts A History.'; But a book at the bottom of the shelf against the wall, caught his attention more. The book didn't seem to have a title on the cover, which made Ron even more curious.

He reached his small arm to the back of the shelf, trying to reach the book, but it seemed to be too far away. Ron then looked both ways and carefully took his wand out of his pocket. He swished and flicked the wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The dusty book began to levitate shakily, as if someone with no practice was using magic.

Ron started to bring the book closer to him carefully so as not to knock over the other books or draw too much attention. Then the book fell into his hands.

The book was completely dusty, almost not showing the color of the cover. It looked like a book forgotten by the librarians. He wiped the book clean with his hands, revealing the dark green color that remained on the cover, but the book didn't have a title showing, which made Ron curious.

He slid his fingers along the edge of the book, but before he could open it, a sweet voice interrupted him.

"What are you doing?".

The little girl with light brown messy hair appears next to him, wearing a curious expression.

"Oh, I'm looking for some books I need to buy for my school supplies.".

Ron replied, pocketing his wand and pulling out the letter from Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts? Are you also going to study there this year? For your information, the books we need to buy are in section B, in the second aisle."

She said, pointing to their right.

"Alright. Thanks!"

Ron tucked the book under his arm, without Hermione noticing, gave a brief smile and walked out into the hallway.

Leaving the book on the shelf would be too risky, as someone could take it before it returned.

The little girl walked behind him, curious at his disinterest about her also being a student at Hogwarts.

"And what is your name? Since we are going to be colleagues…".

She asked, taking hurried steps after him as he glanced at the shelves looking for the books on the list.

"I'm Ron! Ronald Weasley."

Ron replied, pulling one of the books off the shelf.

"Nice to meet you, Ron. I'm Hermione! Hermione Granger."

Ron just gave her a brief understanding smile and turned his attention back to the books he was looking for.

"So you're a Weasley... Your dad works at the ministry, doesn't he?"

"Yes."

"You are pure blood, right?"

"Right."

"Do you have an owl?"

"Yes I have."

"And your owl that delivers your letters??".

Hermione started asking a lot of questions. It was a little funny to Ron, but irritating nonetheless, causing him to respond curtly.

"You finished?"

Hermione asked, as Ron placed a pile of books on the table and went over the list again.

"I've already read most of my high school books, you know? I wanted a new book to pass the time now."

Hermione said, as Ron ran his finger down the list, counting the books. It was then that a popping sound popped into his head.

"Hm, I know a book you can read!"

Ron said, walking towards the shelf he was on earlier.

"Swear? Which book?".

Hermione asked curiously, walking hurriedly after him.

"Let me see… Oh yes, here it is!"

Ron said, pulling a book off one of the top shelves where Hermione couldn't see it.

"Hogwarts A History. You will like this one!".

Ron handed the book to her.

"Wow, I can't believe you found that book. I had heard about it, but I couldn't find it anywhere!

Hermione said with twinkles in her eyes.

"Thank you. I will make good use of it!"

She replied proudly. She looked very grateful.

"Daughter, have you found what you wanted?".

A tall beautiful woman with shoulder-length black hair called out to Hermione.

"I did. I'm on my way!"

Hermione said firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Weasley!"

Hermione extended her arm towards Ron.

"Likewise."

Ron shook her hand, and then Hermione turned and skipped off towards her mother.