Rune stone path

First forays

Several weeks later, Harry found himself levering his trunk up onto the Hogwarts' Express and thinking about his very first friend. Hagrid had been a wonderfully nice man all things considered but, Harry was forced to admit the gentle giant was a rather bad introduction to the magical world. Horrible even. He hadn't even told Harry how to get onto a seemingly nonexistent platform! Thankfully he had had time to read part of Hogwarts, A History so he knew about the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 but what if he hadn't? He might've been stuck outside! Harry suppressed a shudder at that nightmare.

On the other hand, Hagrid had gotten him his beautiful owl Hedwig which really made up for absolutely anything and everything. An actual birthday present? That giant of a man had firmly cemented Harry's loyalty for life. He smiled down at Hedwig who twisted her head and hooted softly at him reaching through the bars to nip his fingers a bit.

"Excuse me, is there anyone sitting over there? Most of the rest of the compartments are full and I'd prefer not to lug this thing any further," a red-headed young boy about Harry's age asked pushing into the compartment with a large trunk in tow.

"Sure, seat's open," Harry said. "I'm Harry by the way."

"Ron Weasley. Have you seen Harry Potter anywhere? I heard he was supposed to be here this year and I wanted to say hi before we reached the school."

"Err…" Harry ran a hand through his hair but before he could decide whether or not to admit his last name Ron's eyes widened and he pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry groaned realizing far too late he'd exposed the stupid, annoying scar.

"Blimey! YOU'RE Harry Potter! Why didn't you say so? I'm Ron Weasley!"

"Yeah, I know. You already introduced yourself a minute ago."

"Oh right, well, bloody hell! Harry Potter! So how did you do it? Do you remember it? Did it hurt?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it," Harry sighed reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mother's runes notebook. She had been right, it was a fantastic way to relax and studying the runes always helped him tune the world out. Granted the world had previously consisted of Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley but the theory was still sound. Right?

"But why not? You're famous, mate! It's awesome! What I wouldn't give to be in your position!" Ron yelled out with a grin almost splitting his face.

Harry just scowled. "You'd rather have your parents dead and live with relatives who hate you? Be my guest. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to read now."

Ron's mouth dropped open and he just sputtered for a few seconds. Harry caught the boy's face turning slightly red before he leaned down over his notes. He'd already been able to correct some of his mum's mistakes, add a few new notes and he even had a few ideas on some entirely new clusters. With a bit of luck he'd be able to figure out how to finish one of the simpler ones before the end of month. Two months tops. The carving sets from the shop in Diagon Alley had had everything he needed to get started. Convincing Hagrid that he'd wanted something two years early (why Ancient Runes only started Third Year he couldn't figure out; it wasn't like it was complicated) had been difficult until Harry had pulled the 'I want to be closer to my mum' card. Hagrid had melted like putty after that.

Thankfully Ron stayed quiet for a few hours for the most part...Harry could hear him grumbling under his breath every so often. It was a bit annoying but he still left Harry to his work. By the time the food trolley rolled around Harry had finished the current cluster he'd been studying and felt a bit bad about earlier. It wasn't Ron's fault the magical world in general seemed to idolize him. He bought a few extra snacks from the woman as a peace offering.