Chapter 1: Beginnings

Ron Weasley paused at the compartment door, heart thudding in his chest. He was rather nervous of the Boy Who Lived, and would have preferred to meet him in calmer circumstances. There was nowhere else to sit, though, so he slid the door open and walked in.

"Anyone sitting here?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite the boy whom he now knew to be Harry Potter. "Everywhere else is full."

Harry Potter shook his head, and Ron sat down awkwardly.

The door slid open again, and the Weasley twins stuck their heads in.

"Hey, Ron. Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

Ron still wanted to make a good impression, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded.

"Oh - well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got - you know..."

He pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who...?"

"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.

"Well - I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then realised what he was doing and quickly looked out the window instead.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, seeming to actually be curious about Ron. Well, at least about Ron's family.

"Er - yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you must know loads of magic already."

Ron nodded, then changed the topic.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles. What are they like?"

"Horrible. Well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five." Ron said, a trace of bitterness in his voice. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

He stopped talking, feeling like a bit of an idiot for ranting at the Boy Who Lived, who he'd only just met.

Harry didn't seem to mind, though. He was giving Ron a speculative look, and after a few seconds he spoke.
"You know, I think I might have even more to live up to. I mean, I'm the Boy Who Lived. I defeated Voldemort - "

Ron gasped.

"You said his name! Blimey!"

Harry waved it off.

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything - it's just that I'd never heard of him until about a month ago, and I never learned to be afraid of his name. Anyway, so everyone says I defeated him when I was a baby. Survived the Killing Curse, got this scar - you know the story. So I'm really famous, but what can I actually do? I don't have special powers, and I don't even know anything about magic. Even Ollivander expects me to do great things, and honestly I'm just a confused kid!"

Harry looked at his feet, breathing heavily, as Ron tried to figure out what to say. He suddenly felt a strong kinship with this strange black-haired boy, and it had nothing to do with fame.

"Any idea what you're going to do about it?"
"How can I? I don't know anything. I know I want to be someone and do something, but I don't even know what that means in your world. I have no idea what I should actually do."

Ron smiled nervously. "We should work together, you and me. Figure out how to be even better than what people expect us to be."

"Really? That'd be brilliant!"

They grinned at each other, then solemnly shook hands.

A moment later the door opened, and a round-faced boy came in.

"Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?"

Harry and Ron both shook their heads, and the boy wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

Ron glanced at Harry, who nodded, and then back to the round-faced boy.

"We'll help you look. I'm Ron, and this is Harry."

The boy looked extremely relieved. "Thanks. I'm Neville, by the way - Neville Longbottom."

"Wait a minute," said Ron. "Have you tried asking a prefect for help?"

Neville shook his head. "I've got another first-year helping me, but we hadn't thought of prefects. Where can we find them?"

"Front of the train, first two carriages - my prat of a brother, Percy, was boasting about it."

As Harry and Ron stood up, a girl with bushy brown hair stepped into the compartment behind Neville.

"Any luck, Neville?"

Neville shook his head. "No, but these guys were about to go to the front with me to ask a prefect for help."

"Oh, of course! Why didn't I think of that?" She looked somewhat embarrassed. "I'm Hermione, by the way."

Harry and Ron gave their names, and then Ron said, "I'll stay behind and look after our stuff if you like, Harry."

Hermione spoke up. "I think I can lock the door with magic."

The three boys stared at her, and after a moment she continued.

"I memorised all our textbooks before I came. I couldn't try everything, but that's one of the ones I did try. It worked for me then."

The boys didn't speak as they followed Hermione out into the corridor. When they were all out, she touched the top of her wand to the latch and frowned in concentration.

"Colloportus"

There was a squelching sound, and Hermione stepped back with a satisfied look on her face. She set off towards the front of the train, the other three trailing after her.

In the second carriage from the front, they knocked on the first door they came to. It slid open, and the first-years saw four older students, two boys and two girls, sitting inside the compartment. The older students' robes were trimmed with green. One of the older boys spoke, irritation clear in his voice.

"Firsties? What are you doing here?"

"We're trying to find Neville's toad." Hermione said. Her voice squeaked a little, but she stood her ground.

"Well, it's not here. Scram."

One of the older girls muttered and waved her wand, and Hermione was pushed back out into the corridor. A moment later, the door slammed shut and a blind came down over its window.

Hermione was furious. "We ought to report them - that's no way for prefects to behave!"

Neville shrank back. "We'll just get in trouble if we try. No one'll believe us."

Ron nodded. "Let's try another compartment, see if we can find some prefects who aren't Slytherins. If we get Ravenclaws, they might even know some clever way to find the toad without having to search."

They peered into the next compartment, and saw blue-trimmed robes. Ron knocked, and the door slid open. A girl with long curly hair smiled at them.
"Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Neville's toad." said Ron.

"Trevor," Neville added.

The older girl pulled out a small chocolate bar, still in its wrapper. She pointed her wand at Neville and muttered something, then pointed it at the chocolate bar and muttered some more. The chocolate bar twitched, and suddenly it seemed like she was restraining it.

"This should lead you straight to Trevor. If it doesn't work, come back and I'll try something else - either way, you can have the chocolate."

They thanked her and left, Ron leading the way as the chocolate bar pulled him along.

By now, Ron was feeling better than he could remember ever feeling before. He had people taking him seriously, including Harry Potter, and right now they were even following him. He had known that this train trip would be a good chance to make friends, and he was now pretty hopeful that the four of them would end up good friends. He had a lot in common with Harry Potter and would probably be working with him to become excellent, and he suspected that Hermione and Neville might join in with that also - Hermione definitely seemed like she had something to prove, though he wasn't sure about Neville.

The four first-years almost ran down the train, drawn along by the insistent pulling of the enchanted chocolate bar. Eventually the bar veered to the left as Ron passed yet another compartment door. After a glance inside showed only a few older girls that Ron didn't recognise, he knocked on the door. One of the girls opened it, and after a brief-but-embarrassing explanation, Neville took the chocolate bar from Ron and retrieved the toad.

The four of them then headed back towards Ron and Harry's compartment. As they went, Ron spoke up.

"If you two want to grab your trunks from wherever you're sitting, you're welcome to come and sit with me and Harry."

Harry nodded cheerfully in response to Hermione and Neville's inquiring looks, and soon afterwards the quartet was comfortably settled in the compartment which Ron and Harry had previously claimed. No one had been particularly surprised when Hermione magically unlocked the door, and her spell worked perfectly on the first try. The boys were getting used to the idea that Hermione was almost frighteningly competent.

As they took their seats, Ron looked inquiringly at Harry. Harry shrugged slightly and nodded, which Ron took as permission to tell Neville and Hermione what they had been talking about before. He started talking as soon as they were all settled.

"Harry and I were talking before, just before Neville knocked on the door. I've got all my brothers and their successes at everything hanging over me, and Harry is the Boy Who Lived. We both feel like we've got a lot to live up to, and we're not sure how. We're going to work together to figure it out. Are you guys interested?"

Hermione was bouncing slightly in her seat. "That sounds great! The wizarding world is all new to me, and I don't really know anything about it, and I'm really worried that I won't be good enough. Everyone else already knows so much!"

Harry held up a hand. "I know a lot less than you do, Hermione. I only found out about magic about a month ago, and I haven't spent the last month reading books. Probably should have, though."

There was a pause, as three pairs of eyes turned automatically to Neville. He blushed, and smiled nervously. After a moment, he opened up a little.

"I won't be any use to you, but I'd love to try. I'm not really much good at anything except plants. My parents were aurors, and Gran keeps telling me how I'll never be as good as them. So I guess I've got something to prove, too."

Ron waited for someone else to say something, but no one did - they were all thinking. He waited another few moments before grabbing their attention.

"Right, so we all have something to prove. We all want to work together, I think. Let's make a pact!"

The others actually cheered out loud.

"We need a name," said Neville.

"Cannons!"

"Green Magic!"

"The Quartet!"

"Ooh, that's better than what I was going to say. Even better, how about just 'The Four'?"

The boys looked at Hermione.

"I like it," said Harry, "It's simple and it fits."

"It lets us grow," said Neville. "We don't really know what we're going to do yet, and this way we won't have to change our name every week."

Ron grinned and held his right hand palm-down in the middle of the compartment.

"The Four! We'll work together to be excellent!"

The other three put their right hands on top of Ron's, and then they all sat back. Ron actually felt rather dizzy after all this, and Harry looked a bit pale. Neville seemed scared and excited, and Hermione was just excited.

After a few moments, Ron spoke up. "Right, what do we start with?"

A pause, and then Harry's voice. "Ollivander told me that the wand always chooses the wizard – he said that you can use another wand, but the results will never be as good. Ron, you said you're using your brother's old wand – shouldn't that mean that it'll never quite work right for you, no matter how much you try and no matter how good you are?"

Ron looked somewhat stunned at that. "I guess so. I never really thought about that."

Hermione looked appalled. "Ron, you can't go to school with a wand that hasn't chosen you - that's really unfair!"

Ron shrugged helplessly, and Neville chimed in. "I've got my dad's old wand. I never really thought about it, but it doesn't really feel like it fits me."

Harry looked from one to the other. "So why don't you both go to Ollivander's and buy wands that actually suit you? I'll pay for it if that helps – I've got loads of money anyway, and I don't want my friends held back by their wands. Plus I need you to be able to watch my back - I met a horrible boy at Madam Malkin's when I was getting my robes, and he talked like he expected to have a lot of power at school."

Ron was rather pink and seemed to be having trouble with speech, so Neville answered for both of them. "That'd be great, Harry! Um... Are you really sure, though? Wands are expensive."

Harry shrugged. "I've never really had money, and now suddenly I have heaps of gold. It's not really... I dunno, real to me – like, I don't feel like a rich person or anything – but if I can do useful stuff with it then I want to."

Neville nodded. "Thank you, then. I would like that a lot."

"When we get to Hogwarts," said Hermione, "we can ask a teacher about going to Diagon Alley to buy wands. I'm sure they won't mind, not when it's so important for schoolwork."

They all agreed with that.

"So what do we do once we get to Hogwarts?" said Ron. "I mean, obviously we'll get Sorted and have classes and all that, but what are the four of us going to do to be excellent?"

"I was thinking we could meet in an empty classroom," said Hermione, "and study and practice. We might even want to ask a teacher for help, but we don't know that until we meet them. Are we all likely to be in the same House?"

Ron looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm pretty much a dead cert for Gryffindor – all my brothers went there. Hermione, you're really smart – you could definitely go to Ravenclaw. You showed courage when we were looking for Neville's toad, though, and I guess we're all showing some sort of courage in all this Four stuff. Not sure about Harry or Neville, though – sorry, just don't know you well enough yet."

"What do we do if we're in different Houses?" said Neville, sounding a bit forlorn.

"Meet up and work together just the same." said Hermione. "It's better if we're all in the same House, of course, but we can still spend a lot of time working together no matter what."

Neville seemed reassured by that, and the conversation turned to more general topics. Ron knew a lot about Hogwarts from his older brothers, and a lot about the wizarding world that he'd grown up in. Hermione knew everything that she'd been able to get from her books in the few months since she'd found out about magic, but had no experience of the wizarding world. Neville had grown up with magic, but had no brothers or sisters, and his childhood seemed to have been a bit odd – he didn't want to talk about it, and the other three were too busy with other interesting things to even think of prying. Harry knew the least about magic – he had only learned about magic about a month ago, and hadn't been reading like Hermione. He and Hermione had grown up in the Muggle world, though, and Ron and Neville learned a lot about that world as they talked.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet. He quickly learned that she didn't have the food he was used to – instead it was all wizarding food, and he was wildly curious. Of course, he was also very hungry.

"I'll take the lot!"

The woman's eyebrows went up, but she merely said "Alright, one of everything then," as she took his money and loaded up his arms with all of the food. She glanced around at the other three, but Harry intervened. "You three can share all this – there's plenty for all of us, and I really just wanted to try everything."

The woman nodded and backed out of the compartment, smiling as she went – after all, a single compartment wouldn't normally buy anywhere near so much from her.

Conversation within the compartment continued for a few minutes, then cut off abruptly as the door slid open again. The four occupants looked up to see three boys in the doorway: a thin pale boy in the middle, and a rather solider boy scowling vaguely on either side of him. Harry tensed slightly, Ron's face began to turn red, Neville shrank back very slightly but seemed thoughtful, and Hermione just seemed faintly puzzled. Meanwhile, the boy in the middle was staring at Harry with a look of undisguised fascination.

"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

Harry nodded shortly. "Yes, that's me. Can I help you?"

The boy, whose name turned out to be Draco Malfoy, looked disconcerted for a brief moment before he recovered his poise. "I just wanted to tell you how things work in the wizarding world, so you don't make mistakes that will hurt you later. For instance, you'll soon learn that some wizarding families are better than others – Weasley here is a perfect example, though Longbottom's not much better. And as for the mudblood... It's lucky for you that I'm here, Potter – I can help you meet the right people."

He held out his hand for Harry to shake, but Harry didn't take it. Instead he stared calmly at Draco for a few seconds before he spoke. "You're right, I don't know much about this world. But what makes these people bad, and what makes you better? They've been nice to me. I like them, they seem to like me, and they seem like decent people. What's wrong with them?"

Draco shook his head sadly. "Wow, you really don't know anything about our world. It's about blood and magic, Potter – blood, magic, and class. Purebloods like me have better magic than mudbloods and halfbreeds, and society works better with just purebloods. That's why we hate blood traitors like the Weasleys and the Longbottoms – their magic is fine, with exceptions like Longbottom here, but they want to let halfbreeds and mudbloods come in and hurt our society."

Harry became aware that Neville and Hermione were physically restraining a furious Ron, but decided to worry about that later – for now, he was dealing with Draco Malfoy. He shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Draco, but I think you're wrong. From all I've seen, I think my new friends are nicer and better people than you."

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like these, and it'll rub off on you."

The Four stood up, wands already drawn. The compartment suddenly felt very crowded, and Malfoy took a step backwards out the door before he even realised what he was doing. Before he could recover, Ron reached out and slammed the door shut. As Malfoy reached for the door, Hermione pointed her wand.

"Colloportus!"

The four of them laughed as Draco tugged ineffectually at the door, and even more when he gave up and stalked off down the corridor.

"By the way," said Harry, "why were you two holding Ron back? Did Malfoy say something really bad or something?"

Ron himself answered this, seeming a lot calmer now. "He called her a mudblood - that's really bad, probably the worst word I know. I've spent a lot of time around adult wizards and witches, plus all my brothers, and I've heard a lot of swearing. I don't think I've ever heard that word used by anyone I respected. Not once. It's just not a word you use, Harry. I knew the Malfoys were bad news, but I'm still surprised that he said that. I'm glad Neville and Hermione held me back, though – I don't want to be in trouble at Hogwarts before I even get here, and especially not for a Malfoy. So thanks, guys."

No one interrupted them after that, partly because Hermione had forgotten to unlock the door – a few people came to gawk at them through the glass, and some even tried to open the door, but the Four didn't notice as they chatted. Finally they were interrupted by an announcement echoing through the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Hermione was wearing her robes already, but the three boys were still dressed in Muggle clothing. They had grown comfortable with each other through hours of conversation, so Hermione just darkened the door's windowpane with a spell and stood facing it while the boys changed into their robes behind her. Ron gave the all-clear when they were finished, and Hermione cleared the window with a brief incantation before turning back to face them. She noticed with approval that Ron no longer had that smudge on his nose, and she was glad that she had managed not to say anything – she was getting along so well with these boys, and really didn't want to annoy them. She did now straighten Neville's cloak and neaten Harry's hair a little, though.

After a slight pause for Hermione to finally unlock the door, the Four joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.

"Yeh'll get yer first sight o' Hogwarts in just a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. The Four took a boat, avoiding the scrum as the several dozen other first-years scrambled for foursomes and for boats.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then – FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

As they stood waiting for the last first-years to disembark, Ron turned to the other three with a thoughtful look on his face. "We should remember this place – we could always practice spells here, if we can't use a classroom."

Harry grinned. "Or if we want to practise spells that are too dangerous for a classroom – we'll definitely be learning some of them, if I have any say in it."

Hermione tried to look disapproving, but couldn't help dissolving into giggles. Even in the dark, the other three could see a manic gleam in her eye – they hastily reconsidered their impressions of this girl.

When everyone was standing on the pebble beach, Hagrid strode off into the darkness. The first-years followed his lamp up a narrow passageway through the rock, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

After making sure everyone was there, Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.