Ron Weasley and the Philosopher's Stone

Christmas was approaching. As promised, I wrote to my mother about the gift for Harry. Let him be happy. I have nothing to give him. Should I make him a postcard? In the middle of December, when everyone woke up in the morning, they found that the castle was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the huge lake was frozen. On the same day, the twins received several penalty points for conjuring snowballs they had made, and they began flying after Professor Quirrell, crashing into the back of his head. The few owls who managed to fight their way through the blizzard that morning to deliver mail to school were on the verge of death. And Hagrid had to tinker with them thoroughly before they could fly again. All the students were looking forward to the holidays and could no longer think about anything else. Maybe it was because it was terribly cold at school and everyone wanted to go to their warm, cozy homes. No, it was warm in the Gryffindor Common Room, the bedroom, and the Great Hall, because the flames roaring in the fireplaces did not go out for a minute. But the draughty corridors were icy, and the windows in the frozen classrooms were shaking and ringing under the blows of the wind, threatening to fly out. They couldn't fix them with magic. After all, this is where the largest community of brownies lives. But no, we need everyone to freeze. Okay, the seniors are casting warming charms on themselves, but what should we do? Our family is saved by my mother's sweaters. She enchants them for warmth. What about Muggleborns and first-generation children? They're wearing Muggle clothes without enchantments. The students had the worst time in Professor Snape's classes, which took place in the dungeon. Steam escaping from their mouths hung in the air like a white cloud, and the students, forgetting about burns and other dangers, tried to stay as close as possible to the boiling boilers, almost clinging to them. “I can't believe that someone will stay at school for the Christmas holidays because no one is waiting for them at home,” Draco Malfoy said loudly in one of his potions classes. “Poor guys, I feel sorry for them...” As he spoke, Malfoy looked at Harry. Crabbe and Goyle giggled loudly. After the memorable match in which Gryffindor won thanks to Harry, Malfoy became even more unbearable. Stung by his team's defeat, he tried to make everyone laugh with a joke he had come up with. The idea was that in the next game, instead of Harry, a tree frog would take the field, it had a wider mouth than Potter's, and therefore it would be an ideal seeker. However, Malfoy quickly realized that his joke wasn't making anyone laugh - Harry might have caught the ball in a very peculiar way, but he caught it anyway. And, moreover, everyone was amazed that he managed to stay on the maddened broom. Malfoy, even more angry and burning with envy, returned to his proven tactics and continued to tease Harry, reminding him and others that he did not have a normal family. He also walked around my family a few times, but after I punched him in the face a couple of times, he calmed down. But Harry was obviously embarrassed to beat the offender, and Malfoy did not let up. A week ago, Professor McGonagall went through all the courses, making a list of students who would stay at school for the holidays, and I asked to be included in this list. My brothers were also going to stay at Hogwarts - our parents were going to Romania to visit their second son Charlie. Harry stays too. He would have stayed for the summer, but it is forbidden. Should I invite him to join us? By the way, how did the Potters miss him, the heir after all. Although, according to rumors, they left the country after the civil war. When they came out of the dungeon at the end of the lesson, they found that a huge fir tree had appeared in the corridor from nowhere. However, two giant feet poking out from behind the trunk and loud puffing told us that Hagrid had brought the fir here. “Hey, Hagrid, do you need any help?” I asked, sticking my head between the branches. “No, I'm fine, Ron... But thanks anyway,” It came from behind the fir tree. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to let me pass,” someone spoke from behind, drawing out the words. Of course, it could only be Malfoy. “And you, Weasley, as I understand it, are trying to earn a little extra money? I assume you plan to stay here as a forester after graduation? After all, Hagrid's cabin is a real palace compared to your parents' house.” The bastard probably hasn't been punched in the face for a long time, we need to update our impressions. I jumped on Malfoy just as Snape appeared in the hallway. “WEASLEY!” I reluctantly let go of Malfoy, whom I had already grabbed by the shirt front. Goyle and Creb didn't even flinch. We're already used to figuring out our relationship with each other. “He was provoked, Professor Snape," Hagrid explained, sticking his head out from behind a tree. “This Malfoy insulted his family, that's it!” “Maybe, but in any case, fighting is forbidden by school rules, Hagrid,” Snape said in an unctuous voice. “Weasley, you're giving your house five demerit points, and you can thank heaven it's not ten. Come on ahead, there's no need to crowd here.” Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle forcefully pushed past Hagrid and his fir, almost breaking several branches and strewing the floor with needles. And they left, grinning stupidly. By the way, when I fight with the little Malfoy, his friends usually pretend that they are not there. They don't like him. “I'll get him," I remarked, rubbing my fist, looking at Malfoy's retreating back and gnashing my teeth. “I'll definitely get it one of these days...” “I hate them both," Harry confessed. “Both Malfoy and Snape.” “Come on, guys, cheer up, Christmas is coming soon,” Hagrid encouraged us. “I'll tell you what - come with me to the Great Hall, it's so beautiful there now, you'll rock!” Harry, Hermione, and I followed Hagrid, who was dragging a fir tree, into the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were hanging Christmas decorations there. “Great, Hagrid, isn't that the last tree?” Professor McGonagall said when she saw the fir tree. “Please put it in the far corner, okay?” The great hall looked amazing. There were at least a dozen towering fir trees in it: some glittered with frozen icicles, others shone with hundreds of candles attached to the branches. Traditional Christmas wreaths of white mistletoe and holly branches hung on the walls. That's how we started celebrating Muggle holidays four hundred years ago, for the purpose of mimicry with Muggles, and we celebrate. Muggleborns don't know much about magical holidays at all, and we usually celebrate them at home with our doors closed. “How long do you have left before the holidays?” Hagrid asked. “Just one day," said Hermione. “Yes, I remembered something. Harry, Ron, we have half an hour before lunch, we need to go to the library.” “Oh, yeah, I forgot," I said, barely taking my eyes off Professor Flitwick. The professor was holding a magic wand, from which golden balls appeared. Obeying Flitwick, they floated up and settled on the branches of the tree Hagrid had just brought. Can he change the color? And the size? I want to be able to do that too. I'll have to come up and ask him how he does it. He's usually willing to share non-combat spells. “To the library?” Hagrid asked, coming out of the hall with us. “Before the holidays? You're really smart...” “No, it has nothing to do with classes,” Harry said with a smile. “Ever since you mentioned Nicholas Flamel's name, we've been trying to find out who he is.” At the same time, we read everything in a row. I usually take books about combat magic or herbology. Although sometimes I look through potions for the sake of interest. "What?" Hagrid was shocked. “Er... listen up, I told you to stay out of this, right! You don't care what Fluffy's guarding, or anything!” “We just want to find out who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all,” Hermione explained. “Unless, of course, you tell us yourself so that we don't waste time,” Harry added. “We've already looked through hundreds of books, but we haven't found anything. Can you at least give us a hint of where to read about him? By the way, I've heard that name before, even before you said it...” “I'm not telling you anything," said Hagrid gloomily. “So we'll have to find out for ourselves,” I concluded, and we parted with a visibly annoyed Hagrid and hurried to the library. Ever since the day Hagrid mentioned Flamel's name, we've actually looked through a bunch of books in search of him. How else could we find out what Snape was trying to steal? The problem was that we had no idea where to start, and we didn't know what Flamel had become famous for to get into the book. He was not mentioned in the "Great Magicians of the twentieth Century", nor in the "Outstanding Names of Our Era", as well as in the "Important magical Discoveries of recent Times" and "New Directions of magical Sciences". Another problem was the sheer size of the library - thousands of shelves stretched into hundreds of rows, and there were tens of thousands of volumes on them. Hermione pulled out a list of books from her pocket that she planned to look through, and I walked along the rows, stopping from time to time, randomly pulling out a book on topics of interest to me and starting to leaf through it. Harry wandered off towards the Special Section. Unfortunately, in order to get into this section, it was necessary to have a permit signed by one of the teachers. No one will give him such permission. And he probably wouldn't have been able to come up with anything very convincing. They're going to kick him out, damn it. In addition, the books stored in this section were not intended for first-year students at all. These books are dedicated to the higher branches of Dark Magic that were not studied in school. So access to them was open only to teachers and even undergraduates who chose protection from the Dark Forces as their specialization. Harry apologetically talked to Madame Pince and left the library. We decided a long time ago that we would not contact her with the question of where to find information about Flamel. We were sure she knew the answer. But we didn't want to take any chances - Snape might be nearby, and he shouldn't have known what exactly we were interested in. We had been trying to find something for two weeks now, but there was no free time, except for the occasional free minute between classes, so it was hardly surprising that we didn't find anything. All we needed was a few hours in the library, and always in the absence of Madame Pince, so that she would not look closely at what we were doing.   As I thought, Pince noticed Harry at the restricted section and kicked him out of the library. Okay, he's not here either. He put the volume back in its place. Hermione quickly flipped through the collected books. Five minutes later, we left the library, immediately shaking our heads at the sight of Harry. And they all went to lunch together. “You're going to keep looking for me when I go on vacation, aren't you?” Hermione asked hopefully. “And if you find something, send me an owl right away.” “By the way, you might as well ask your parents if they know who this Flamel is," I said. “They're the parents, so there's no risk...” I would also ask if I had my own owl. Should I take a school card?  “Absolutely nothing," Hermione agreed. “Especially considering that my parents are dentists...” When the holidays finally started, Harry and I were having too much fun to think about Flamel. There were only two of us left in the bedroom, and there were far fewer people in the common room than there had been during school. That's why we pulled chairs as close to the fireplace as possible and sat there for hours, stringing slices of bread, tortillas and marshmallows brought from the Great Hall onto a long metal fork, toasting them over an open fire and eating with gusto. Of course, we didn't stop talking for a second, even with our mouths full, because we had a lot to talk about. The main topic, of course, was Malfoy. We came up with dozens of plans to frame Malfoy and get him expelled from school. And it didn't matter that these plans were clearly unfeasible, it was still nice to talk about it. We also played magic chess, which I started teaching Harry. It was practically the same chess that Muggles played. The only difference was that the figures were alive, and the player felt like a commander directing his troops at the enemy. My chess set was new and well-tuned by small golems. And with full terrain control on the board. Aunt Muriel gave them to me after I learned how to play my grandfather's set properly. I've never had any problems getting the figures to do what I want. Harry was playing with the action figures that Seamus Finnigan had lent him, and they obeyed him very badly, completely distrusting the temporary owner. In addition, Harry was not a very good player, and the figures constantly gave him advice, confusing him: "Don't send me there, don't you see the enemy horse? Better send that one over there, his loss won't make any difference." Unfortunately, my friend listened to the advice of the figures and everyone around him. Unsurprisingly, he blew a huge bill. Besides, even though I explained to him how to control the pieces, it's quite difficult to do this with someone else's chess. They get attached to a particular host and don't want to listen to others. On Christmas Eve, I went to bed looking forward to a festive breakfast and fun. In the morning, I was woken up by Harry, who noticed the boxes and bundles by his bed. “Good morning," I said sleepily as Harry got out of bed and threw a robe over his pajamas. “Same to you," Harry replied automatically, staring at what lay by his bed. “Just look at these presents!” “I thought they were pumpkins," I joked, hanging off my bed. She had more presents than Harry. Considering how many relatives I have in the magical world, this is not surprising. I quickly looked through my pile, keeping an eye on my friend. Harry quickly unpacked the top package. The gift was wrapped in thick brown wrapping paper. There was a rough-hewn flute inside - most likely, Hagrid had carved it out of wood himself. Harry brought it to his lips and extracted from it a sound similar to the hooting of an owl. The next gift was in a thin envelope and consisted of a sheet of thick paper. A small coin was taped to the paper. “Nice to meet you," Harry commented. However, I liked this gift - I looked at the coin with all my eyes. “What a ridiculous contraption!” I finally exhaled. “Is that money? This shape?” “Take it for yourself.” Harry laughed when he saw how pleased I was. “I wonder who else could have sent me a present besides the Dursleys and Hagrid?” “I think I know who it's from.” I blushed slightly, pointing at the bulky package “It's from my mom. I wrote to her that there would be no one to give you a gift... I got a lot of red paint, after all, it's a homemade sweater and all that. “O-o-oh," I moaned. "I wish I'd thought of that before. "She knitted you a Weasley branded sweater...” Harry tore open the package, revealing inside a thick, hand-knitted emerald green sweater and a large box of homemade sweets. “She knits sweaters for all of us every year for Christmas”, I muttered unhappily, unwrapping a gift from my mother. “And I always get the maroon one.” And I look like a tomato with my hair in it. Although aurors generally wear scarlet robes. “Your mom is just great”, Harry noticed as he tasted the sweets, which were of course very tasty. Mom is generally good at baking. The next gift was also sweet, a large box of chocolate frogs sent by Hermione. There was one more bundle left. Harry picked him up from the floor. He slowly unwrapped it. Something airy, silver-gray fell out of the bundle and, with a rustle, gently landed on the floor, glistening with folds. I opened my mouth wide in amazement. Wow. This is… “I've heard of it," I said in a strangled voice, dropping the box of lollipops Hermione had sent to the floor without even noticing it. If this is what I think it is, it is a very rare thing, and very valuable. “And what is it?” Harry picked up a shiny silver cloth from the floor. It felt very strange to the touch, as if it was partially made up of water. “It's an invisibility cloak," I whispered in awe. “I have no doubt that this is her, try it yourself. Put it on.” Harry draped the cloak over his shoulders. “It's her!” I yelled. "Look down!" Harry followed my advice and did not see his own feet. He darted like lightning to the mirror. His face was still there, of course, but it was floating in the air because his body was completely missing. Harry pulled his robes over his head, and his reflection disappeared completely. “Look, there's a note!” I called out to him. “A note fell out of it!” Harry took off his robes and picked up a piece of paper from the floor. The writing on it was done in a very small handwriting with curlicues, something I had never seen before. Harry was studying a strange note written by unknown people, and I was still admiring the robes. “Yes, I'd give a lot for one," I confessed. “Hey, what's the matter with you?” “Nothing," Harry shook his head. Before he could say anything, the bedroom door burst open and Fred and George burst in. Harry quickly hid his robes under the covers. “Merry Christmas!” Fred shouted from the doorway. “Hey, look!” George exclaimed, turning to his brother. “Harry also got a Weasley branded sweater!” Fred and George were wearing brand-new blue sweaters, one with a large yellow letter "F" embroidered on it, the other with a letter "D" of the same color and size. “By the way, Harry's sweater looks better than ours,” Fred admitted, turning the gift Harry had received from our mom over in his hands. “He's not a family member, so she knitted him much harder.” “Why aren't you wearing your sweater, Ron?” George was indignant “Come on, they're not only beautiful, they're also very warm.” “I hate burgundy," I moaned, pulling on my sweater. “And there are no letters on yours,” George chuckled, looking at me. “I guess she thinks you won't forget your name. And we're not stupid either-we know very well that our names are Dread and Forge.” The twins burst out laughing, pleased with the joke. “What's all that noise?” Another red head poked through the door, Percy's, and he didn't look too happy. Apparently, he had already managed to open his gifts, at least partially, because he was holding a rough-knit sweater in his hands, which Fred immediately snatched from him. “Yeah. The letter "H" is here, that is, the headman. Come on, Percy, put it on - we've all already put ours on, and so has Harry.” “I... don't... want to," I heard Percy's hoarse voice, as the twins had already pulled a sweater over his head, knocking off his glasses. “And remember, you won't be sitting with the prefects at breakfast today, but with us," George added instructively. "Christmas is a family holiday." The twins pulled a sweater over him, so that his arms did not get into the sleeves, but were pressed against his body. And, grabbing his older brother by the scruff of the neck, they pushed him out of the bedroom. *** On the table were hundreds of fat roast turkeys, mountains of fried and boiled potatoes, dozens of bowls of fried green peas and saucepans full of meat and cranberry gravy, and towers of magical firecrackers. The firecracker that Harry and Fred tried out didn't just pop, but exploded with a cannon roar and, enveloping them in thick blue smoke, spat out a rear admiral's cap and several live white mice. It was fun at the teacher's table too. Dumbledore had exchanged his pointed wizard's cap for a flowered hat and was laughing merrily at Professor Flitwick's jokes. The turkey was followed by candlelit Christmas puddings. The puddings were a surprise - Percy almost broke his tooth on a silver sickle, taking a bite of the pudding. Hagrid kept pouring himself more wine and getting redder and redder, and finally he kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek. And she blushed in embarrassment and giggled, not noticing that her top hat had slipped to one side. In general, it was fun. But I'd like to see my older brother and my parents. It's a pity that children are not allowed in the dragon Reserve. They left Jeanie at Aunt Lucrezia's. The next day, Harry and I had a lot of fun, having a furious snowball fight outside. And then, soaked, cold, and barely able to catch our breath, we returned to the fireplace in the living room. Harry tried out his new chess pieces there and was spectacularly defeated by me. Harry tried out his new chess pieces there and was spectacularly defeated by me. Perhaps if he had played by himself, without listening to Percy's valuable advice, the defeat would not have been so quick and shameful. Unlike Harry, my brother doesn't understand chess at all. My friend has already learned to play well by himself. But he's constantly distracted from the game. After tea with turkey sandwiches, muffins, biscuits and Christmas pie, Harry and I felt so full and sleepy that we simply had neither the energy nor the desire to do anything before going to bed. So we just sat and watched as Percy chased the twins around the room, who had taken away his prefect badge. I had eaten my fill of turkey and sweet pie, so nothing mysterious or mystical bothered me. And as soon as my head touched the pillow, I immediately fell asleep. I got up earlier than my friend in the morning, although he usually gets up earlier than everyone else. Strange. "You could have woken me up." I said resentfully. We were sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast - or rather, I was having breakfast, and Harry had just finished his story about his nocturnal adventures. No, to think of him wandering around the school alone. What if Snape had caught him? He doesn't like him anyway, to put it mildly, but here's a late-night wake-up call. Or wasn't he on duty yesterday? No, Harry said he heard Filch complaining to Snape about the intruder. “You can come with me tonight. I'd like to show you this mirror.” “I'd love to meet your parents.” I blurted out happily. At least I'll look at this obviously magical mirror. “And I'd like to see your whole family, all the Weasleys.” “You'll show me your older brothers and all the other relatives.” I shrugged my shoulders. ”Come and stay with us this summer, and that's it.” “By the way, maybe this mirror only shows those who have already died? It's also a pity that you didn't find anything about Flamel. Take the bacon, why don't you eat anything?” But Harry continued to sit hungry. I don't like it. “Are you okay?” I asked worriedly. “You look so strange...” “It's all right.” Ignoring decency again, I took a couple of fried sausages off the platter and forced Harry to eat them. Yeah, it certainly looked like it… All the Slytherins are laughing at me now. Babysitter for the hero damn. *** Harry was very absent-minded all day, and I was enjoying it less and less. What kind of mirror is this? There were two of us under the cloak today, so we moved much slower than Harry did yesterday. We tried to repeat the path that Harry had taken after running out of the library, and for about an hour we wandered through the dark corridors. “I'm just dying of the cold," I complained. My feet are already thoroughly frozen. It's very cold in the castle in winter, but I went in my pajamas. Let's forget about it and go back to the bedroom. “No way," Harry hissed indignantly, "I know the room is nearby.” We passed by the ghost of a tall woman floating in the opposite direction, and fortunately, we didn't meet anyone else. And just when I started moaning again that my legs were frozen and I couldn't feel them anymore, Harry noticed the familiar armor. “It's here... Definitely here... yes!” Harry opened the door and, throwing off his robes, rushed to the mirror. “See?” Harry whispered, turning to me. A mirror is like a mirror. The usual reflection. “I don't see anything.” “Look at that! Look, there they are - the parents, and others...” “I only see you," I replied. “Take a closer look," Harry persisted. “Come closer, stand here, next to me.” Harry moved a little bit, and now I was in front of the mirror. Awesome! Is this really true? No, I don't think so. What a strange mirror. I froze in front of the mirror, staring at it in fascination. “Just look at me!” I exclaimed. “Do you see your parents and brothers around you?” Harry asked. “No, I'm alone. But I'm different... grown up... and... and I'm the first student of the school!” I looked more closely. “I... I have a badge on my chest, the same one Bill had when he became the best student at Hogwarts. And I have in my hands the Cup of the winner of the inter-house competition and the school Quidditch Cup. I'm also the captain of the national team, can you imagine!” I tore my eyes away from the painting that had so fascinated me and looked excitedly at Harry. “Do you think the mirror shows the future?" I asked hopefully. “It can't be!” Harry protested hotly. “My whole family died a long time ago. What does the future have to do with it? Move away, I want to see more...” “You stared at him all night last night," I said hotly. “Harry, let's get out of here, whatever. This is a very dangerous mirror.” “Harry was indignant.” “I want to see my parents!” “Don't push me!” I screamed, staggering, when he pushed me hard in the side. Damn, I'm stuck with this piece of glass myself. A sudden sound coming from the hallway silenced us. We just realized that we were arguing too loudly and probably made a terrible noise. “Quickly!” I grabbed the robe. And we managed to cover ourselves with it when Mrs. Norris appeared from behind the door, her eyes twinkling. Harry and I froze, trying not to breathe and thinking about the same thing - does the cloak apply to cats? It seemed like an eternity before Mrs. Norris turned around and walked back out into the hallway. “It's dangerous here-maybe she went after Filch," I whispered. “I bet my old broom that she's heard our voices and knows we're here. We're leaving.” And I dragged the reluctant Harry out of the room. *** “Do you want to play chess? I'll show you how to transform the playing field into a forest.” I asked the next morning when we returned from breakfast. “No," said Harry shortly. “Then why don't we go out of the castle and visit Hagrid?” “Perhaps not...” Harry shrugged his shoulders. “If you want, you'd better go alone...” “I know what you're thinking, Harry.” There was understanding on my face. “You're thinking about that mirror. Don't go there today.” “Why?” “I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this. Besides, you've been on the verge of failure too many times already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are all over the school, hoping to catch you. Yes, they can't see you, but they might run into you. But what if you bump into something or knock something down- they'll figure it out right away...” “You sound just like Hermione," Harry snapped.   “I'm serious, Harry," I pleaded. "Don't go there. And finally eat. There's your favorite oatmeal. And a sugar bowl. Do you want some eggs? There's the bacon you like. I started pushing the plates towards him, trying to attract his attention with the delicious smell.” But, of course, he waited until evening anyway and went. But I stuffed dinner into it anyway. Apparently, the guy realized that it's not a good idea to sit hungry. The Slytherins have already openly called me the babysitter of the hero of the wizard of Britain. And you can't even punch me in the eye for that. It's true. I got there. *** Harry returned at night upset and much earlier than I expected. Kicking his trunk in anger, he fell asleep. He didn't go to the mirror anymore. He said Dumbledore caught him and forbade him to come there. That's good, because this mirror acts on the mind like a drug.