[1] New Beginnings: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and the Philosopher's Stone

15: new rivalries

After the three boys had introduced themselves, for the next couple of hours their conversation branched off into other things. Quidditch, for example, a wizarding sport played in the air on flying broomsticks. "And there's seven on each team," Ron was saying, "the keeper, he guards the three hoops at each end, the chasers, they get the quaffle - the big red ball - to the hoops to score, and the beaters, they keep the bludgers - the black ones, there's two - from hitting their teammates. Then there's the seeker. They need to catch the snitch before the other team's seeker does." Ron was very enthusiastic about quidditch. He almost looked like one of those Americans talking about their "football".

"But how does one team win?" Harry asked.

Ron continued. "Well, as soon as the seeker-"

There was a knock on the compartment door and the three boys looked up to see an old woman peering in. Percy opened the door for her and she said, "Anything from the trolley dears? There's quite a way to go until Hogwarts."

Ron grimaced. "No thanks, my mum made me sandwiches. I swear if she put roast beef on them..." he trailed off, looking through the sandwiches that were in his coat pocket.

Harry shrugged and said, "We'll take the lot."

****

Five minutes later and the whole compartment was filled with the sounds of chewing and wrappers crinkling. Harry had taken it upon himself to pay for all of it despite Ron's protests. Knowing that once Harry had made his mind up about something there was no going back, so he dug in.

There were no Mars bars, Aero bars, no Wine gums or Pear drops like Percy was used to. Instead, there were things like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and Pumpkin Pasties. The three boys had moved past daring each other to eat a particularly rancid looking bean and had started on the Chocolate Frogs. Ron was explaining the different cards you could find with the frogs, and how he had a collection going on at home.

Harry had opened one and got Albus Dumbledore. "Oh, I've already got three of him, he's not that rare, " Ron said.

Harry was moving the card from side to side curiously. Then he gasped. Percy looked over and raised his eyebrows. "He's gone!" they both said.

Ron looked at one boy and then the next. "Do you do that a lot? Synchronize your voices, or whatever?" The black haired boys shrugged, not really having noticed it before. "Becuase my brothers, Fred and George, they do that a lot. It's annoying, really."

"Brothers?" Percy asked.

"Oh yeah, Fred and George are great, so are Bill and Charlie, they aren't in school anymore, but Percy's the one you need to look out for. He'll do anything to follow the rules. I also have a sister, her name's Ginny. Oh, have I shown you this yet? George told me a spell that'll turn Scabbers, my rat, yellow." Ron stood and pushed his worn trunk to the side, revealing a small cage with an old rat inside of it. Ron plopped the animal on his lap, took out his wand, took a deep breath-

The compartment door slid open, a girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth entering. She gave off an aura of someone who knew what they were doing. "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." The three boys shook their heads dumbly. Percy thought her voice sounded rather snobbish too. The girl caught sight of Ron's raised wand. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."

Ron looked incredulous for a moment, then cleared his throat again. "Er, sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" Nothing happened.

"Hm. That wasn't a very good spell, was it?" The girl said. She sat down next to Percy and across from Harry, who had moved to sit next to Ron about an hour before. She took her wand out with a flourish and said, "Oculus reparo." There was a snap and the tape keeping Harry's glasses from falling apart was gone. They were good as new. "There, that's better." As Harry had taken his glasses off to gawk at them, his bangs had shifted to the side, displaying his scar to the newcomer. "Blimey! You're Harry Potter!" Harry nodded, still rather occupied with his now-fixed glasses. "I'm Hermione Granger." She turned to Ron, looking rather disgusted. "And, you are?"