Harry knew that he would be the odd one out of his batch. Not just because of his Boy Who Lived reputation but also because of how he had been raised. Completely blindsided by the fact that he is a wizard, Harry sometimes feels that he is dropped in the middle of a fantasy world, with a dream that anyone would wish for. Yet what Harry wishes the most, may never come true. He wishes for his parents to be beside him when he receives his Hogwarts letter. If Harry was told that he could exchange his parents for fame, Harry would have refused in just a second. He wanted his parents. But dead people never come back. That is a fact, even magic cannot change.
His thoughts were interrupted by the compartment door opening. It was the same boy, who behaved weirdly at the station. Harry was curious but seeing the boy’s furious expression, his curiosity faded and wariness took its place. The boy on seeing him immediately calmed down. He said “Hey, you are the boy at the station, right?” Harry nodded his head. The boy was either oblivious or decided that there was no reason to be any more angry. He introduced himself by saying “I am Ron. Ron Weasley-Toretto-O’Conner.” Harry is now even more curious about the 3 surnames. He said “I am Harry. Harry Potter.” For the first time in someone’s eyes, Harry saw no sense of recognition and awe. It was as if a huge boulder was lifted off of Harry’s shoulder. The boy seemed to be viewing it as just a boy of his own age. Ron asked, “Do you like cars?”
Harry didn’t know why but he felt that it was a make and break moment then. So, he decided to go with honesty by saying “I only know my uncle’s car. But I don’t know the model’s name or make.” Ron seemed to be surprised at Harry’s honesty. He shrugged his shoulders and said “Well, someone has to start from somewhere. Might as well identify an object being a car. By the way, I have been raised by car fanatics. So, you have to tell me if you get bored anytime I talk regarding cars. Deal?” Harry shook Ron’s hand in anticipation and fearful joy, that for the first time, he had a friend who he could call his own. For some time after that, silence descended.
Ron was staring in a contemplative manner out of the window. Harry doesn’t know whether he should interrupt or not, when Ron asks “Do you sometimes feel that you know everything and then one day, you realize that everything you knew was all wrong. But the truth is so twisty and scurvy, that you cannot even understand it. And your head is full of confusion or should I say cottoned with confusion.” Harry recalled what he believed and what was revealed. On one hand, he is glad to know the truth, but on the other hand he sometimes wonders whether he would be better off not knowing. But even then, the truth when revealed made sense for him. So he said “Sometimes. But sometimes, I feel that everything makes sense, and I am right where I belong.” Ron looks at him in a speculative manner, and Harry ducks his head suddenly shy. The door opens with a bang, startling both Harry and Ron out of their contemplative thoughts.
Draco Malfoy was born to be a pureblood. He couldn't imagine any other fate than not being a pureblood. It was a vision completely inconceivable to him. He was proud of the fact that he was a wizard and part of the pureblood family line. His Father always told him, always taught him that the Malfoy line was the most influential and purest of all the pureblood lines. There were very few lines, purer than the Malfoy line. Another factor that his father taught him was to build connections. That was the Malfoy family's secondary strategy. Built connections across the board, among the politicians and the lesser known. Bestow favors for the lesser known and influence the powerful according to their commands. In this way, one would be able to maintain their foothold over everyone without any sacrifices.
When his Father found out that Harry Potter was going to be part of his year, he had cautioned to approach the Potter Heir carefully. The Potter Heir cannot be influenced by others, in favor of Muggleborns. His Father emphasized that once the Potter heir was converted to their way of thinking, no one could stop their influence in the wizarding world. When his Father found out that he had met Harry Potter at Madam Malkin's and behaved rudely in front of him, his screaming still made Draco whimper. After that his Father went over his pureblood lessons, and again cautioned him to be careful when he is speaking with Harry Potter.
So, Draco took a deep breath and said “They said the Boy Who Lived was on the train. Never realized that it would be you. Nice to meet you, Harry. I am Draco. Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle. Why don’t you join us in our compartment? You don’t have to hang out with riffraff here.” Potter stared at him coldly, when Malfoy heard a muffled snort of laughter from the other side. Turning to his right, his eyes narrowed recognizing the red hair and freckled face. He sneered and said “And don’t bother joining us Weasley. I have better company to spend than the likes of you.” The Weasley stares at him back and pops one chocolate frog in his mouth calmly. Chewing it carefully, he said “Well, that would be alright. I can spend the time here. After all, I am sure Harry doesn’t have a hobby of kidnapping children from their families and tossing them on the streets of America. Oh right! Wasn’t that what your father and his cronies did. Did that include your fathers also?” The last question was directed to Crabbe and Goyle. All 3 of them paled, when they realized which Weasley this is. The Prodigal Weasley. The story which was as infamous as the Boy Who Lived. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle bit back a hasty retreat, closing the compartment door abruptly.
Harry looked at Ron in a puzzled manner and asked “Kidnapped?” Ron nods his head and says “Well apparently, when I was 2 years old, someone took me from the yard. And the probable somebody was Lucius Malfoy, according to my biological family. But since the cleanup after this Dark Lord was taking place around the same time along with the celebration, no one thought to look for me, until say one week after the kidnapping. By then, apparently, I was already in the streets of America, raised in such rough conditions that I was a feral dog, when they finally found me.”
Harry said, “Were you raised in the streets of America?” Ron gives him a duh expression “Do I look anywhere like a feral dog?” Harry chuckles and shakes his head in a no. Ron said “If you call the streets of Los Angeles as streets of America, then yes, I was raised on them. And if you call being a bookie for the car races, legal and illegal by the way, as rough living, then yes I was living like that. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” Harry was just caught on one point “You were a bookie?” Ron grinned, delighted with the memories clearly in his expression as he said “One of the youngest and one of the best. But then Dad found out and he grounded me. But Vince still places bets from my side. Did you……………...” As Ron starts to describe his experiences, Harry realizes with a start that it is going to be an interesting 7 years in Hogwarts, with Ron in the mixture.