Harry, Ron, and Adam sat in silence inside their compartment—none of them saying a word.
For Harry, it was shyness. Ron wasn't sure how to start a conversation with the "celebrity" sitting opposite him and didn't feel like chatting with Adam either. As for Adam, he was perfectly content to sit quietly and watch the scenery slip by.
Eventually, the silence grew unbearable for Ron. He cleared his throat and turned to Harry.
"Er… are you really Harry Potter?"
Qin Yu had just introduced Harry to the Weasley family, and Mrs. Weasley had been especially warm. Still, Ron struggled to believe it—Harry Potter was a legend from bedtime stories, and now he was sitting right here, face-to-face in a train compartment.
"Yeah, I am," Harry answered, unfazed by Ron's reaction. He'd seen plenty of people act even more starstruck at the Leaky Cauldron.
With practiced ease, he pushed aside his fringe, revealing the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead—his most unmistakable feature.
Ron's eyes went wide.
Even Adam, who'd been quietly watching the countryside roll by, glanced over with genuine curiosity.
"So… that really was done by You-Know-Who? You actually escaped from him…" Ron's mouth hung open.
"That's what they say…" Harry paused, then shrugged. "But honestly, I don't remember what happened that night. The only thing I recall is a blinding green light…"
"That's it… That's a really, really nasty curse… Only the most evil and powerful wizards can cast it…" Ron said, eyes fixed on Harry.
The intense stare made Harry shift awkwardly.
Ron quickly realized and flushed. "Sorry, Harry… I got a bit carried away… It's just, you're really famous…"
"It's fine," Harry replied with a gentle smile.
…
Now that they'd broken the ice, Harry's curiosity got the better of him. He asked about Ron's family—after all, a household with six red-haired kids was bound to draw attention.
Ron launched into a litany of woes about being the sixth child in a big family.
"…You didn't see Charlie today, he's off in Romania studying dragons, so there are seven of us. I've got five brothers and a little sister. You probably noticed her—she's the girl who kept staring at you…"
He went on about the pressures his brothers created, though he'd long since gone numb and given up trying to compete.
But Harry admitted he envied Ron for having so many siblings.
"…If you had this many brothers, you'd know you never get anything new. I'm wearing Bill's old robes from when he was little, and Charlie's old wand…
Actually, I had a pet rat, too—hand-me-down, of course—but when I left home, it just vanished. I couldn't find it anywhere…
Well, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. Here, I'll show you just how old my wand is—the core's nearly poking out…"
Ron said this, perhaps to dispel Harry's "envy." He cracked his trunk open, rummaged around, and pulled out a thin wooden stick.
"See? Told you. The outside's worn down, and look at the tip—you can see the unicorn hair inside." Ron held out the wand for Harry to see.
He turned his head away, half-expecting Harry to look at him with pity. He didn't want to see that.
Still, he couldn't explain why, but in front of Harry, he wanted to be honest… even if his confidence wasn't quite up to it.
Just then, as Ron was lost in thought, he heard Harry Potter say, hesitantly, "Er… Ron, this wand doesn't look old at all. It looks brand new to me…"
"Hah, how could that possibly… huh?"
Ron started to scoff, but as he turned to look, he realized—he was holding a brand-new wand!
His tone shifted from disbelief to stunned silence.
He instinctively glanced at Adam.
The other boy remained calm, his voice flat: "You should be able to guess."
Ron's mind raced back to yesterday, when the whole family—and Adam—had gone to Diagon Alley. Fred and George had insisted on dragging him around the shops, even making him try a wand at Ollivanders. But they hadn't bought it… had they?
He looked again at the wand in his hand. It was unmistakably the one he'd tried in the shop.
And yesterday, they'd visited other shops, too…
He stuffed the wand into his pocket, yanked open his trunk, and started searching.
Inside, everything was brand new—new robes, new cloak, a new pointed hat, a new cauldron, a shiny brass scale…
Lying on top of the pile was a slip of parchment. On it was scrawled:
Ha ha, surprised, Ronnie!
At the bottom were two initials:
f&g
Fred and George.
Remembering how annoyed he'd been yesterday as they dragged him around, the faint embarrassment he'd felt, and now seeing the new things in his trunk—even a neat little stack of Galleons in the corner…
Well, Ron was still a kid. He couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears spilled down his cheeks, and he started sobbing right there.
"Er… Ron, are you okay?" Harry stared, bewildered. He had no idea why the other boy had suddenly burst into tears.
"I'm fine, Harry… sniffle I'll be alright in a minute… sniffle Fred and George are so mean, always picking on me…" Ron managed between hiccups and tears.
…
Harry was at a loss for words. He turned to Adam by the window—this quiet boy clearly knew what was going on.
"It's… sort of a family game, I suppose," Adam said, searching for the right phrase. He honestly didn't understand the Weasleys' way of doing things.
But that was exactly what fascinated him about them.
He was always curious about things he didn't understand.
"Well… I hope you feel better soon, Ron…"
After that, Harry sat back and watched as Ron sorted through his trunk, wiping away tears and occasionally letting out a little laugh.
It made Harry wonder if the kid had finally lost it.
——Dimensional Wall——
This chapter mainly revisits part of the original story, fleshing out the characters and the world.
Well, since this one's a bit "fluffy," you can be sure there's another update coming today.
The double-update beast is back!
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