Weasley Is Our King. Without a Kingdom or Crown, He Rules Over All

The wizard family was easy to spot. Firstly, they were quite loud, and Harry caught mentions of muggles and Hogwarts express. Secondly, they wore robes and had trunks much like Harry's own. Thirdly, one of the boys, the youngest one, was floating five fit in the air, his eyes blazing with terrible ethereal light, ominous ghostly Latin chanting following in his wake. People would look at him, their mouths opening in a prelude to a scream, but then they would yawn and blink as if waking from deep slumber, momentarily confused, before returning to their business.

Harry stood there for a few moments, deciding what to do. Approaching the family seemed... not wise, but he really didn't want to be late for the train. What if they would say that he didn't deserve to be in Hogwarts if he couldn't even board a train? What if he were forced to leave the magical world behind just after discovering it and go back to live with Dursleys? Besides, maybe it was just normal for wizards. He talked to snakes sometimes, other people floated and had their own soundtrack. Yes, that was probably it.

Taking a deep breath, Harry marched towards the frazzled woman and the boy floating beside her.

By the time he reached them through the crowd, the rest of the family has disappeared somewhere Harry couldn't see. He cleared his throat, trying to attract the woman's attention, but she grabbed his shoulder, said, "You next, Ronald, go on," and shoved him towards a wall between platforms nine and ten.

Harry jumped under the touch, and the woman blinked, taking a closer look at him.

"Oh, sorry, dear, I thought you were one of mine. I swear, some days I forget how many boys I actually have." She chuckled.

Harry smiled warily, looking at the woman and the boy still floating near. Latin chanting intensified. She cast a quick glance at the boy as well and answered Harry with a strained smile of her own.

"First time to Hogwarts?" she asked in a very cheerful and very fake tone, pointing at Harry's luggage.

"Uh... yeah," he managed to say.

"Don't you worry, dear," she said. "There is a magical barrier hiding the platform. Just go straight through the wall between platforms nine and ten, and you'll be there."

"Right through the wall?" Harry said dubiously. He glanced at it. It looked very solid.

"Yes. But remember: don't look back and don't hesitate. Fear or doubt could make the wall real, and then you'd have to try again."

"Uh... Okay then," he said. "I'll be going. Thanks for the help."

"It's no trouble, dear. And don't worry too much. Ronald will be right behind you, so if you can't get it right the first time, he'll help you along. It's often easier to go together."

Harry didn't look back and he didn't hesitate.

Harry stared forlornly out of a window. The train was departing, and he could see people on the platform waving to their children. The woman who helped him was there too, waving with tears in her eyes. He could see her clearly because there was a lot of empty space around her. He wished there was someone to wave for him. Not the Dursleys, obviously. Even if they were willing to do it, that would just be weird. Not his parents, for even more obvious reasons. Maybe Hagrid could have been there for him. Then again, he'd see Hagrid in Hogwarts, wouldn't he?

He was broken out of his thoughts by a faint Latin chanting slowly but inevitably growing louder and louder, almost drowning distant screams, growing nearer. He could see the wood of the train rot, he could see maggots emerging from the corners, he could see window fogging over, visions of Hell visible in its misty depths.

The door opened then, and a voice of dying stars asked, "CAN I SIT HERE? EVERYWHERE ELSE IS OCCUPIED BY SCREAMING PEOPLE, IT'S VERY UPSETTING."

Harry looked at the floating boy, at his blazing eyes, at the rot and rust spreading around him. He opened his mouth to scream.

And then closed it.

The woman - boy's mother - has helped him, hasn't she? He could have still been at King's Cross, desperately trying to find a way to the train that has departed without him. He didn't want to be ungrateful.

And now that he looked, he could see hope on the boy's face and a nervous smile on his lips.

"Uh, sure," he said.

The boy's face lit up in strange geometric patterns.

"THANKS!" he said, passing over the threshold and immediately floating towards the ceiling. "I'M RONALD MELKHIRES YABALCHOATH ADRAMELECH WEASLEY, THE BREAKER OF WALLS AND DYNASTIES, THE UNCROWNED KING, THE MASTER OF THE STILL STARS AND THE FLAMING DOOR. BUT, PLEASE, JUST CALL ME RON."

"Uh, sure," Harry said. After a moment he continued, "I'm Harry Potter. Well, Harry James Potter. Just call me Harry."

"REALLY?" the boy said, his face once again lighting up with geometric patterns and what Harry now could recognize as excitement. Harry winced at momentarily forgetting the kind of reactions his name provoked. "DOES IT MEAN YOU HAVE THE DARK LORD BOUND IN UNFATHOMABLE DEPTHS OF YOUR SOUL?"

"Err... Not that I know?" Harry asked.

The boy's face fell, and so did he, for at least a foot.

"OH," he said. "WELL, IT'S FOR THE BEST, REALLY. LESS TROUBLE THAT WAY."

Awkward silence and loud Latin chanting reigned.

"SO," Ron said in a cheerful voice reminiscent of his mother's. "WHAT HOUSE DO YOU THINK YOU'LL BE IN?"

"I dunno." Harry shrugged. "I don't really know much about them. I'm excited to be in Hogwarts at all. What about you?"

"GRYFFINDOR," Ron said in a very firm voice echoing with distant thunder. "MY WHOLE FAMILY WENT THERE."

Harry thought back at the gaggle of red-haired children and at the woman waving on the platform.

"It must be nice, having a large family," he said wistfully. "I wish I had one."

"I SUPPOSE," Ron said. "I'M THE YOUNGEST BOY, THOUGH, SO I ALWAYS END UP WEARING HAND-ME-DOWNS AND PLAYING WITH TOYS THAT WERE MY BROTHERS', AND EVEN MY PET RAT WAS PERCY'S BEFORE IT DISAPPEARED SOMEWHERE." He sighed, exhaling a cloud of rust. "I MISS IT, YOU KNOW. I MEAN, SCABBERS WAS OLD AND DIDN'T REALLY DO ANYTHING MUCH, BUT I LIKED TO HAVE HIM WITH ME. IT WAS... COMFORTING."

"Oh," Harry said. He cleared his throat, not allowing the Latin chanting to settle. "So, I've read the school books? Well, skimmed them, mostly, but anyway, I think magic is really cool, but also really complicated. Do you figure it's going to be difficult to learn?"

"I KNOW THE SECRET NAME OF GOD THAT IS 'I'. THROUGH IT, I HAVE THE DOMINION OVER THINGS LOST AND FORGOTTEN, CAN CONJURE UP THE SHADES OF THE DEAD, DIVINE SECRETS PAST AND FUTURE, PROVIDE MAGICIANS WITH GOOD AND LOYAL FAMILIARS..." He paused then. "DO YOU WANT A FAMILIAR? I CAN GIVE YOU A RABBIT THAT'S ONLY SLIGHTLY DEMONIC."

"Err, no, thanks." Harry shook his head. "I have Hedwig here." He pointed out at the cage.

"OH," Ron said. "IT'S ALRIGHT THEN. IT'S A NICE OWL."

He reached for Hedwig. She screeched. Ron lowered his hand.

"ANYWAY, I THINK I'LL DO FINE." He smiled wistfully. "I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS NEXT YEAR. I HOPE TO RELEARN BROOM RIDING THIS YEAR TO BE READY FOR THEM. IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY DIFFICULT WHEN I HAVE TO FLY ALONGSIDE THE BROOM. ARE YOU GOING TO TRY OUT FOR THE TEAM AS WELL?"

"I dunno. I've heard something about Quidditch, but I don't really know much about it."

Ron's face lit up for the third time, brighter than ever before.

"LET ME EXPLAIN THEN," he said.

They've spent the next hour discussing Quidditch, Harry mostly asking questions, Ron excitedly explaining the rules, the common tactics, providing his opinion on various teams and lamenting the performance of Chudley Cannons.

"THEY"RE GOING TO HAVE A COMEBACK ANYTIME NOW," he said. "YOU'LL SEE."

By the end of it, Harry has decided that he'd definitely learn to ride the broom and make it on the team next year.

He also relaxed enough to say, "So, uh, can I ask about, you know, the floaty thing?"

Ron winced slightly, the compartment darkening momentarily.

"OH. THAT," he said. "YEAH, SURE. I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU WOULD, ACTUALLY." He took a deep breath, for once without any special effects. "WELL, YOU SEE, FRED AND GEORGE - MY BROTHERS, THAT IS, THE TWINS - TOLD ME A YEAR BEFORE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO TEACH ME A SPELL TO MAKE ME TALLER, SO MUM WOULD HAVE TO ACTUALLY BUY ME NEW CLOTHES. LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET - AND SO ON IT WENT. THEY THOUGHT IT WASN'T A REAL SPELL, JUST GIBBERISH, SO I'D LOOK LIKE A FOOL SAYING IT. TURNS OUT, IT IS A REAL SPELL, IT JUST ONLY WORKS WHEN THE STARS ARE RIGHT, AND THE CASTER HOLDS STRONG DESIRE IN HIS HEART. SO IT SUMMONED A DEMON FROM THE BOWELS OF HELL AND SORT OF MELTED US TOGETHER, THEIR MEMORIES, THEIR POWER FLOWING INTO ME. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GRANT THE DEMON TOTAL CONTROL OVER MY MORTAL BODY, BUT I THINK THEY GOT CONFUSED OVER MY DESIRE. PEOPLE NORMALLY USE THIS SPELL TO OBTAIN WEALTH OR IMMORTALITY AND SUCH, NOT TO GROW TALLER... SO, EITHER WAY, I'M STILL MOSTLY ME. JUST... FLOATY."

"Huh," Harry said.

"IT WAS TOUGH AT FIRST, YOU KNOW," Ron said, his blazing eyes looking somewhere far away. "THERE WERE THOSE CREATURES COMING FROM THE SHADOWS, WHISPERING THINGS IN MY DREAM, PROMISING ME DOMINION OVER ALL I SURVEY... BUT THEN MUM BASHED THEM WITH A BROOM AND THEY WENT AWAY. SHE TOLD ME THAT, NO MATTER WHAT, I WAS STILL HER SON, THAT SHE LOVED ME AND WAS PROUD OF ME." Ron chuckled. "IT WAS VERY EMBARRASSING," he said, but his smile was genuine. "ANYWAY, AFTER THAT-"

The door opened then, and in came a witch pushing a trolley. She looked at what was before her, smile frozen on her face. Then she swiftly turned around and ran, leaving the trolley behind.

Ron looked forlornly at the space where she was a moment ago.

Harry looked at the trolley. It was filled with sweets that called to him and to his empty stomach.

"I'm just going to leave some money on the trolley and take the sweets. I'm sure it's okay," he said. "You want some?"

Ron beamed at him (he dodged), and Harry knew he's made his first friend in this new world.