Ron-Weasly book 1. V2

Harry rubbed his scar thoughtfully, as if trying to wrap his head around it:

"So the ring is for seeing, and the blade is for defending or attacking?"

We entered a dark corridor.

"Yeah," I nodded. "And he also said that if you touch it incorrectly, you can fall into a trap yourself. So it's not "just an ornament," as Mom thought when she saw it."

Hermione thought for a moment, then tilted her head slightly:

"So this is an alternative way of doing magic." She pursed her lips a little, but excitement flashed in her eyes. "We'll have to ask Bill. In detail. With examples."

I rolled my eyes, but without anger:

"I'll write you the address. You'll take an owl from the owlery and write. Only he might not answer, he's a busy magician."

Harry chuckled softly:

"Okay, let's get away from Filch first, let's keep his voice down. And then we'll figure out which is cooler — a wand or a ring."

"Where did they go, Peeves?" Filch's voice reached us. "Come on, I'm waiting."

"Say `please.'"

"Don't piss me off, Peeves! So, where did they run to?"

"Please tell me first, or I don't know anything," persisted Peeves.

Filch was clearly annoyed by his monotonous voice.

"Well, okay, please!"

"I DON'T KNOW! I don't know anything!" Peeves shouted happily.

"Ha ha ha! I warned you: you should have said "please" before. Ha ha! Ha ha ha!"

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I hope we get out, but fuck off, Neville!"

Neville had been tugging at Harry's sleeve for a minute or two now.

"What do you want?" Harry said with displeasure, turning to him.

As soon as we turned around, we immediately saw this very "what". At first, I thought I was just imagining it-after everything I've been through today, it would just be too much. However, what I saw was a reality, and a nightmarish one at that.

I was wrong when I assumed that this door leads to another room. We were not in a room, but in a forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now I understood why the students were strictly forbidden to enter this corridor.

A giant dog stared into our eyes, filling the entire hallway from floor to ceiling. It had three heads, three pairs of rolling, mad eyes, three noses twitching nervously and sniffing at uninvited guests, three open slobbery mouths with yellow fangs, from which drool hung in ropes.

For now, the dog remained relatively calm and only sniffed at us, staring at us with all six eyes. The only reason we're still alive is because our sudden appearance took the dog by surprise. He was probably sleeping at the back of the hallway. But it seemed that the dog was already beginning to realize what had happened. This was evidenced by a low growl, reminiscent of distant thunderclaps, escaping from three mouths. We need to get out of here. Filch and expulsion are better than death.

Harry grabbed the door handle.

In the blink of an eye, we were out the door, slamming it behind us, and running so fast that it looked like we were flying. Before escaping, I turned around and threw a locking spell at the door. Filch was no longer in the hallway. He probably left here to look for us somewhere else. But his absence didn't make us happy or sad-we didn't care right now. All we wanted was to get as far away from this monster as possible. We didn't stop until we were on the seventh floor by the portrait of a Fat Lady. Fortunately, she has already returned.

"Where have you been?" she asked us, looking at our flushed, sweaty faces.

"It doesn't matter," gasped Harry, panting, "nose, pig's nose!"

The portrait slid aside, and we made our way through a hole in the wall into the Common living room and collapsed wearily into armchairs, trembling from the long run and everything we had experienced.

It took a long time before one of us broke the silence. Neville looked like he'd never talk again.

"What do they think?" I was the first to find my voice. It's necessary to think of something like this — to keep this dog at school. This creature clearly needs to exercise, not stay locked up. And Cerberus live in the area of the magical world adjacent to Greece. He's too cold here.

Hermione came to her senses too, and her bad mood immediately returned.

"Why do you need eyes, I'd like to know?" She asked with displeasure. "Didn't you see what that dog was standing on?"

"On the floor," Harry guessed. "Although actually I didn't look at his paws — I had enough heads."

"No, he wasn't standing on the floor, but on the hatch. It's clear to a fool that he's guarding something there."

Did she have time to look at what the dog was standing on? Hermione stood up, giving us an indignant look.

"I hope you're pleased with yourself," she said sharply. "We could all have been killed... or, even worse, expel from school. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

I watched her go with my mouth open.

"No, we don't mind," I managed when Hermione was gone. "You'd think someone had invited her to come with them..."

Chapter 8.1 the new broom

I carefully sat down at the Gryffindor table and, looking around, pulled the Brat out of the pocket of my robes. The rat immediately grabbed the edge of my sleeve with its tiny paws, as if it was afraid to fall.

"Well, do you want some treats?" I asked quietly, as if I were talking not to a rodent, but to someone who could understand.

The ratman squeaked.

Harry, helping himself to his favorite porridge, squinted at my pet.

"Are you feeding her anything normal at all, or is she just finishing your cheese?"

I frowned, carefully placing a small piece of hard yellow cheese in front of the rat.

"It's Harry's treat. I know what she needs. I had a rat named Liina in my Hole, and she lived for three years. Until old age." I was silent for a second, my gaze drifted off into the distance. "I was still small at the time, but I remember that if you feed them anything, they won't last long. Mom kept swearing that I was feeding her cheese, saying she needed vegetables and cereals."

Hermione looked up from her book and looked in our direction with interest.

"So you understand?" She said with interest.

"Not that I understand..." I carefully broke off a tiny piece of boiled chicken and placed it next to the cheese. "But I saw how Mom gave her grains and vegetables.... And not too much fat. So that..." I pushed the food slightly closer to the Brat, "Choose one."

The brat sniffed the cheese, then looked at the chicken as if weighing the options, and finally latched onto the meat.

"That's it," said I, a little more gently. "That's right."

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"So you're an expert now?"

"No," I shook my head. "I just don't want to..." I paused, searching for words. "to repeat what happened. I thought at the time that I was doing everything right, but it turned out..." I paused, nervously adjusting his robes. "She was so fat when my mom saw my pet. I was quietly feeding her in the garden."

Harry put his hand on my shoulder.

"He's safe with you. You're not leaving him."

I smiled weakly.

"Of course not." I carefully pushed a slice of carrot towards the rat. "Here, try again."

Brat seemed to sense my mood, paused for a second, as if listening, and then began to eat a new piece.

Harry smiled a little.

"See? He trusts you."

I nodded, a shadow of my former confidence showing on my face.

"Yes. And I won't let him down. Even though it's Percy the rat, I'm already used to it. It feels like my old rat is back. Maybe I'll even take the female out of the garden again later. Liina was not such a dormouse."

I gently stroked the Brat with the tip of my finger, and he, without distracting himself from eating, moved a little closer, as if accepting my care.

I carefully broke off a tiny piece of boiled chicken and placed it next to the cheese. Then he rummaged in his bag and pulled out half of a dried apple, which he had picked up from last night's dinner.

"Here, try this one," I said, putting the fruit next to it. "Hermione says sugar makes rats sick, but it's kind of healthy... probably."

The brat sniffed at the piece, squeaked, and bit into the bullseye.

"See?" I lifted his chin slightly, as if he had won a small victory. He likes. I'm paying more attention to this now.

I need to eat myself. I left the rat to finish the treats, and I pulled the eggs and sausages to myself. I need to eat some more greens. Mom said it had a lot of vitamins.

* * *

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Harry and me at breakfast the next morning — we were tired, but we were glowing with happiness. He grumbled to himself that some people were lucky, but Professor Snape had caught him.

Unlike Malfoy, we were really happy. After waking up and discussing what happened last night, Harry and I decided that meeting the three-headed dog was a great adventure and we would like to have another one in the same spirit.

And now we were wondering what might need such heavy security.

I reached for the eggs and bacon.

"It's either something very valuable or something very dangerous," I said.

"Or both at the same time," said Harry thoughtfully.

However, all we knew about this mysterious object was that it was about five centimeters long. But it was too little to guess or even guess what kind of object it was.

As for Neville and Hermione, they didn't seem to care what was in the hiding place where the dog was standing. Neville was only thinking about never being around the three-headed dog again. He was not interested in anything except Trevor and Professor Sprout's greenhouses. And Hermione just ignored Harry and me, refusing to talk to us. However, if we consider that she was a terrible know-it-all, always climbed ahead and loved to command, then we were only glad of her silence.

More than anything else in the world, besides the desire to find out what lies in the forbidden corridor, Harry and I wanted to take revenge on Malfoy. And to our great joy, a week later we had such a chance.

It happened at breakfast, when owls carrying mail flew into the Great Hall. Everyone sitting in the hall immediately noticed six owls carrying a long bundle through the air. I was just as curious about what was in the package as everyone else. The owls swooped over the table above Harry and dropped the package right into his bowl of porridge. The plate broke. No sooner had six owls gained height than a seventh appeared, dropping a letter on the bundle.

Harry opened the envelope first. He barely concealed his joy and handed the letter to me.

"DO NOT OPEN THE PACKAGE AT THE TABLE," the letter read. "Your new broom, Nimbus 2000, is in it, but I don't want everyone to know about it, because otherwise all first-year students will start asking to be allowed to have personal brooms. At seven o'clock in the evening, Oliver Wood is waiting for you at the Quidditch pitch, where the first practice session will take place. I've arranged with the headmaster to let you borrow 150 galleons from your safe for a broom.

Professor M. McGonagall"

Holy shit, it's the new racing broom itself.

"Nimbus 2000!" I groaned with envy. "I've never even held one in my hands."

We quickly left the hall to have time to examine the broom before the start of the first lesson. But as we approached the stairs, Crabbe and Goyle appeared in our path. Malfoy appeared from behind them, snatched the bundle from Harry and felt it appreciatively.

"It's a broom," he stated flatly, tossing the bundle back to Harry. There was anger and envy on his face. But only if I was envious in a kind way, then Malfoy's envy was black. "You're not going to get out of this one, Potter. — Freshmen are not allowed to have their own brooms."

I couldn't stand it. It was such an opportunity to mock him that I couldn't resist.

"It's not just some old broom", I looked at Malfoy with superiority and grinned defiantly. This is the Nimbus 2000. What did you say, Malfoy, about that broom you left at home? Isn't this the Comet 260? The broom, of course, is not bad, but there is no comparison with the Nimbus 2000."

"What do you know about broomsticks, Weasley? You wouldn't even have enough money for half a pound," Malfoy muttered in response. You and your brothers have probably been saving up for an ordinary broom for many years, buying twigs each.

Before I could reply, Professor Flitwick appeared next to Malfoy.

"I hope you boys aren't fighting here." he squeaked.

"Professor, Potter's got a broom", Malfoy blurted out and froze, clearly pleased with himself.

"Yes, yes, it's all right," Professor Flitwick smiled broadly at Harry. "You know, Potter, Professor McGonagall told me about the exception she made for you. What kind of model is this?"

"It's a Nimbus 2000, sir," Harry explained, "I have to thank Malfoy for getting me such a broom."

Crabbe and Goyle parted, and we went up the stairs, shaking with silent laughter. Malfoy looked furious and helpless at the same time.

"The funny thing is, it's true", Harry giggled as we reached the top of the marble staircase.

"If Malfoy hadn't grabbed Neville's reminder, I wouldn't have joined the team..."

"So you think this is a reward for breaking the school rules?"

An angry voice rang out from behind. We looked back and saw Hermione Granger coming up the stairs. She looked disapprovingly at the bundle in Harry's hands.

"I don't think you've been talking to us," Harry said.

"And don't change your mind in any way," I added. "Especially since it brings us so many benefits."

Hermione proudly walked past, lifting her nose to the ceiling. After school, Potter and I rushed upstairs together to finally unpack his Nimbus.

"Oh, my God!" I breathed out admiringly, unable to take my eyes off the miracle that had opened up to us.

Even Harry, who didn't know much about brooms, was impressed. The mahogany handle was polished to a shine, the long straight rods and the gold letters "Nimbus-2000" — in short, the broom was just a sight. In the evening, Harry took a broom and went to his first workout.

* * *

The dueling hall echoed loudly with every step. Draco and I stood facing each other, fists clenched, faces flushed. Crabbe and Goyle are frozen at the door like two blocks of stone, their eyes darting warily between the corridor and the fighting, their ears pricked up to any sound of Filch's approaching footsteps.

"You're talking dirty again, Malfoy!" I hissed, lunging forward and aiming for Draco's jaw. He dodged, but I immediately added a low blow to the body. Draco gasped, staggered back.

"Poor Weasley," he gasped, catching his breath and wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "Are you still mad that you don't even have a proper broom? A babysitter for the hero."