A plump grey rat suddenly crawled out from Ron's sleeve and stood on the table, squeaking at him.
The big rat's sudden appearance made Hermione give a little gasp, and she hurriedly edged away from Ron.
"Why are you carrying a rat around?"
Being disliked by a girl his own age made Ron's ears go bright red. He hurried to explain.
"He's called Scabbers. He used to be Percy's rat. When Percy became a prefect, Dad bought him an owl… they couldn't aff— I mean, they just… gave me the rat instead."
Maybe she sensed how awkward Ron felt, because although Hermione still kept a good distance from him and the rat, her words tried their best to be comforting.
"That's all right. Maybe you'll become a prefect too one day, and get a new pet of your own."
Ron picked up a few breadcrumbs and fed them to the grey rat. Scabbers quieted down at once. Hearing Hermione's attempt to console him, however, only made Ron feel worse.
"I've got five brothers. I'm the sixth Weasley boy to go to Hogwarts.
"They're all brilliant. Bill and Charlie have already graduated—one was Head Boy, the other was captain of the Quidditch team.
"Now Percy's a prefect too. Fred and George may be jokers, but they get really good marks.
"So Mum, Dad, everybody sort of… expects I'll be brilliant as well.
"If I pull it off, it's nothing special. But if I don't, then…"
Hermione fell silent. She was the only child in the Granger family, doted on by her parents. She had no idea how to comfort someone from a family like Ron's.
So she turned to Harry instead.
"What about you, Harry? I heard you grew up in a Muggle family, just like me."
Her words brought Harry out of his thoughts. He answered automatically,
"Er—me? They're all very nice. At least… they are now."
Hermione and Ron both looked puzzled. What did "now" mean? Had they been awful before?
Harry had no intention of clearing that up for them. Right then, his eyes were fixed on the fat grey rat.
He could feel magic pulsing inside Scabbers. It was exactly the same kind of magic wizards had—just a lower-quality version of something very much like his chaos magic.
A magical creature?
Harry made a mental note.
Ron drew his wand and pointed it at Scabbers, saying to the other two,
"Fred taught me this spell that's s'posed to turn him yellow. D'you want to see?"
"Of course," Hermione said at once. She was curious about everything in the wizarding world.
Ron cleared his throat with an exaggerated little cough, as if that would help him pronounce the spell more accurately.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!"
A layer of sparkling yellow light flared over Scabbers' fur… but when it faded, the rat was still the same old grey.
Hermione, who tended to be rather forceful when it came to learning, frowned.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?"
Ron's ears went red again.
"I knew it—Fred was havin' me on. He's always pulling pranks."
Harry shook his head.
"No, Ron—your spell worked. But Scabbers is a magical creature. The magic inside him lets him resist that kind of charm."
"Scabbers is a magical creature?" Ron and Hermione said together, equally unconvinced.
The grey rat looked filthy and ugly; nothing about him suggested anything "magical."
Ron was even more skeptical. Scabbers had been in the Weasley family for years and had never shown any sign of being special at all.
"How could he be?" Ron protested. "Scabbers is just an ordinary rat. He's always been like this."
Harry only smiled and didn't argue. Maybe Scabbers' magical power lay in being a glutton. Look how happily he ate—half a chunk of bread as big as his body vanished in no time.
Hermione stood up and drew her wand.
Her expression turned proud and haughty, completely different from the cute little witch she'd seemed like moments before.
Harry thought of the top students he'd known. This was the arrogance unique to overachievers.
Hermione tilted up her chin and announced,
"I've learned a few simple spells too—and they all work quite well.
"One of them is usually taught in third year. It's very difficult, but it's so useful that I just had to learn it!"
She pointed her wand at Ron. Seeing the look on his face, she gave him a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, it'll only take a second… Scourgify!"
Only then did Harry notice the black smudge on Ron's nose. It vanished at once, and even Ron's hair looked cleaner and smoother.
Harry never skimped on praise.
"You're amazing, Hermione. You've already learned a third-year spell!"
Ron's mood, on the other hand, was anything but good. He looked at Harry, then at Hermione.
So he was the only useless one here.
He suddenly felt there was something extremely annoying about Hermione's whole manner.
Hermione's mood was the complete opposite. When she had first met Harry, she'd been worried. She'd assumed all young wizards would be as talented as he was.
For someone like Hermione, who'd always been at the top of her class, that was a terrifying thought. She'd been afraid she'd fall far behind everyone else.
But then she met Ron, and she relaxed. Ron, she decided, represented the normal level for wizard children.
As for why Harry was so exceptional—well, he was the saviour, wasn't he?
Saviours were always different.
Just then, the compartment door slid open and a woman with a dimpled, cheerful smile poked her head in.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Ron and Hermione both pulled the same face. One came from a wizarding family that could barely afford an owl, never mind brand-new pets; the other had two parents who were dentists, but there was a hard limit on how much Muggle money they could change into Galleons. Every Galleon was carefully budgeted for school; there was nothing left over for treats.
Seeing his two friends' predicament, Harry quietly pulled some Galleons out of his pocket dimension and pretended to take them from his robe.
"We'll take a bit of everything, please. Thank you."
Hermione's and Ron's eyes both lit up.
From the ice creams and cakes Hagrid had bought him, Harry had already guessed wizarding food was usually excellent.
He bought all sorts of snacks: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, pink leaf ice cream, and more…
He certainly wasn't going to begrudge a little money. He shared everything out among his friends.
Even Hermione ended up eating happily, unable to resist how good it all tasted.
Harry tried several sweets. Most of them were great, but a few flavours of Every Flavour Beans were… beyond what he was willing to tolerate. After two beans, he pushed that box aside.
He unwrapped a Chocolate Frog, grabbed the wriggling frog before it could escape, popped it into his mouth and crunched it up. While he was enjoying the rich chocolate taste, he noticed a card tucked inside the wrapper.
The card showed the face of an old man wearing half-moon spectacles. His long crooked nose and his long silver hair and beard hid a good part of his face.
Printed beneath was his name: Albus Dumbledore.
Harry flipped the card over. The back contained a short text.
Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Widely regarded as the greatest wizard of modern times,
Dumbledore is particularly famous for:
His defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,
His discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood,
And his work in alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel.
Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling.
The greatest wizard of modern times?
Harry's curiosity stirred. Just how did this "greatest wizard" compare to the Sorcerer Supreme?