Harry Potter 01 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

leaving behind.
    The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.
    ‘Anyone sitting there?’ he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. ‘Everywhere else is full.’
    Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn’t looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.
    ‘Hey, Ron.’
    The twins were back.
    ‘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.
    ‘Are you really Harry Potter?’ Ron blurted out.
    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 fringe 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, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.
    ‘Are all your family wizards?’ asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.
    ‘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.’
    The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.
    ‘I heard you went to live with Muggles,’ said Ron. ‘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,’ said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. ‘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.’
    Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.
    ‘His name’s Scabbers and he’s useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn’t aff– I mean, I got Scabbers instead.’
    Ron’s ears went pink. He seemed to think he’d said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.
    Harry didn’t think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he’d never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley’s old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.
    ‘… and until Hagrid told me, I didn’t know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –’
    Ron gasped.
    ‘What?’ said Harry.
    ‘You said You-Know-Who’s name!’ said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. ‘I’d have thought you, of all people –’
    ‘I’m not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name,’ said Harry. ‘I just never knew you shouldn’t. See what I mean? I’ve got loads to learn … I bet,’ he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, ‘I bet I’m the worst in the class.’
    ‘You won’t be. There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough.’
    While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.
    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 trolley, dears?’
    Harry, who hadn’t had