Ottery St.
Catchpole.
This was one of the few traditional wizarding settlements remaining in England.
Though called a wizarding settlement, it was actually a place where wizards and Muggles lived alongside one another.
No more than ten wizarding families lived here.
As for those with school-age children, aside from the Weasleys, there were only the Diggorys on the other side of the village, the Fawcetts, and the Lovegoods up on the hill.
Wizards who had no desire to star in Muggle witch hunts chose to hide in plain sight among them.
As the Eastern saying goes: “The great hermit hides in the bustling city.”
Ron was currently weeding out the wild grass planted by the gnomes.
He had just cleared them a week ago, but the gnomes living in the garden would use fairy wings they collected, mixing them with Puffskein droppings to create a fertilizer that accelerated the weeds’ growth.
They fed on these plants.
Normally, the gnomes would wait until harvest day to stealthily reap the plants under the cover of night.
But Molly had chased Ron outside to tidy up the garden today.
Because today, Raven was being sent home by his mentor to live with them, and with his mentor visiting, the house simply could not look like a shambles.
From a very young age, Ron had known that he had an older brother who lived away from home with an old man.
When he was little, he had thought that if someone like George or Fred lived out there with an old man, they would surely torture each other and have a miserable time.
But on Christmas when he was five, after visiting Flamel Manor with his family, Ron quickly discarded that naive notion.
He wasn’t jealous, though.
After all, Raven treated the family incredibly well, often having Phineas deliver all sorts of fun things to them.
For instance, the squad of Nifflers and the rare gold, silver, green, and white Puffskeins in Ginny’s room.
Or the golden baby-unicorn-hair scarves that every family member owned.
If only Raven weren’t so fond of “borrowing” his brothers’ arms.
“Little Ronnikins, lend me your arm for a day, will you? I’ll return it tomorrow. I’m doing an experiment, and my alchemical hand’s sensory perception is a bit lacking.”
Ron still remembered how casual Raven’s attitude had been.
At just five years old, completely spellbound by those uniquely textured French treats, how could Ron have thought twice?
He had simply nodded.
It hadn’t even hurt.
Raven had used a pair of special scissors—*snip, snip*—to cut it off, then *click, clack*, attached the alchemical replacement, and the arm worked perfectly.
Afterward, Ron had run crying through the manor looking for his mother, waving a pair of iron arms in the air.
If he hadn’t seen George and Fred taking turns having their arms borrowed and returned over the next few days, he might have stayed panicked.
But seeing them so relaxed, his fear faded.
At first, Ron had genuinely feared his arms would suffer permanent side effects!
Thinking back on the bizarre expressions George and Fred had worn at the time, Ron finally realized: Raven might look like a gentle, dependable older brother, but deep down, he was just like the twins—
He was a closet troublemaker!
*Beep, beep-beep.*
The sound of a car horn and an engine echoed from the sky.
A small car with a white roof and a hydrangea-blue body materialized out of thin air.
It descended slowly, landing gently on the front lawn.
Arthur Weasley opened the door and helped Nicolas Flamel out.
Meanwhile, Raven opened his door, ran to the trunk, and pulled out some prepared gifts.
Two scops owls.
One was for Percy, and the other was for Ron.
Everyone at Hogwarts knew that the Weasley twins’ messenger was a phoenix named Phineas, which shared a name with Phineas Nigellus Black, the most hated headmaster in Hogwarts history.
Because he had been nurtured alongside Raven, Phineas was naturally close to George and Fred, often visiting them at Hogwarts just to hang out.
The two boys and the bird had an excellent relationship, making deliveries and pickups a breeze.
However, the burden of delivering mail for the rest of the family still fell on Errol, their ancient Great Grey owl.
Bill and Charlie were abroad and used their respective employers’ communication systems.
So, the only ones in the house who still needed owls were Percy and Ron.
Of course, how could he forget little Ginny?
Handing the cages to Percy and Ron, Raven reached out with both hands to ruffle his little sister’s hair.
Before the young girl could get angry, he slipped a reservation voucher from Eeylops Owl Emporium into her hand.
“I asked the shopkeeper,” Raven added.
“The owl I reserved for you has the same parents as Harry Potter’s snowy owl. You can bring her home next year.”
Ginny blushed, but her hands didn’t hesitate.
She tucked the voucher away as if it were a priceless treasure.
Of course, she didn’t forget to plant a big, noisy kiss on Raven’s right cheek as he leaned in.
Before the satisfied smile could fade from Raven’s face, two elbows draped themselves over his neck from left and right.
George and Fred’s accusing voices chimed in unison.
“We’re supposed to look identical, but you went and sneakily molded yourself to be slightly better-looking!”
“Is this what you always call ‘over-competition’? Are you trying to outshine the two of us to death?”
“Percy, Ronny, and little Ginny all got presents.”
“Yet we, your fellow triplet brothers, got absolutely nothing.”
“Raven, you’ve done nothing but evil!”
“Raven, your day of reckoning has come!”
Before George and Fred could carry out their “righteous execution,” both of their heads received a swift smack.
Molly finally finished her pleasantries and could properly look at her son, whose life she perceived as incredibly tragic.
“My poor baby, leaving your mummy and daddy at such a young age. It’s all Mummy’s fault…”
As Mrs. Weasley spoke, she pulled Raven into a tight embrace and began to weep, her words dissolving into incoherent sobs.
Arthur Weasley stepped forward, gently wrapping his arms around his wife and son, a happy smile on his face.
“Welcome home, son.”
Then he looked around at everyone.
“Don’t just stand out here. Let’s go inside and catch up.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
Laughing and chatting, the family walked toward The Burrow—toward their home.
Before they even crossed the threshold, Raven seemed to remember something and said, “I got so muddled by those two menaces. The owls are just household items. *This* is the real gift I brought for everyone.”
Raven unhooked a shrunken, portable parchment book from his waist, flipped it open, and pulled a stack of documents from its pages, waving them in the air.
“Stamped documents from the British Ministry of Magic. A permit for the Undetectable Extension Charm. We can finally live in a massive house!”
Hearing this, George, Fred, and Ron were the most thrilled.
Percy was relatively calm, having at least lived through a time when the house felt spacious enough.
Fred, however, had shared a cramped space with George since childhood, and they’d had to surrender a large chunk of their area to Ginny.
Ron was only a year older than Ginny.
The landing room on the third floor was reserved for Ginny, while he was stuck in a tiny room on the fifth floor, sharing his nights with the ghoul in the attic.
That day, The Burrow was filled with the sounds of three howling monkeys.
***
September 1, 1991.
King’s Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Molly held Ginny’s hand, ushering her little monkeys forward.
“Right then, Percy, you first.”
Percy pushed his trolley, steadying his owl as he marched toward the solid barrier between platforms nine and ten.
“Fred, you next,” Molly said, gesturing to the boy trailing behind.
“He’s not Fred, I am,” said the twin closer to Molly.
“Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?” the one in the back chimed in.
“Sorry, George, off you go,” Molly apologized, pointing helplessly behind her.
“Only joking, Mum, I really am Fred,” Fred called out, sprinting forward and disappearing through the solid wall before his mother’s loving fist of fury could find him.
The remaining twin’s face rippled slightly, becoming just a fraction more handsome.
He smirked at Molly.
“Sorry, Mum, it was a Confundus Charm. George already ran through with Percy a while ago.” Raven, thoroughly enjoying his little prank, charged straight into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
The antics of his three older brothers left Ron utterly dumbfounded.
He knew Raven was even more absurd than the twins—the guy had actually used a Confundus Charm.
Molly was about to call him over when a quiet, unfamiliar voice spoke up.
“Excuse me.”
The speaker was a small, thin, black-haired boy wearing round glasses.
He stood rather helplessly by the platform-nine barrier, pushing his luggage and an owl cage.
Seeing the snowy owl resting on his trolley, Molly immediately knew he was a young wizard—though she wondered why he was all on his own.
“How do you…?” Seeing that the dark-haired boy lacked confidence, Molly took the initiative to speak.
“How to get onto the platform? Don’t worry, dear. This is Ron, and it’s his first time going to Hogwarts, too. All you have to do is walk straight through the barrier in front of you.”
“If you’re feeling nervous, you can run a bit.”
“Go on, then. Good luck,” Molly encouraged.