Ding Dong!

Sol pressed the doorbell and waited for his mom to open the door.

“Coming!” He heard his mother's voice from inside the house followed by hurried footsteps moving closer to them.

Click!

The door opened in front of Harry and Sol, revealing Sol's mother standing in front of them.

“Hey, mom. I brought Harry over,” Sol said as he came in.

“Hello, Mrs. Balor!” Harry politely greeted her.

“Ah, how are you doing Harry? I’ve heard so much about you!” She gestured for him to come inside.

“Faye’s asleep, right?” Sol asked.

“Yep! I should call your father over,” with that she left the two in the living room and went upstairs to call Sol's father

Whilst inside, Harry kept on looking around with a sort of wonder in his eyes. It was his first time at a friend's house so he was a bit excited.

Sol looked at Harry, “By the way, my father can’t speak so it’ll be a bit hard for you to talk to him if you can do it in the first place.”

“Huh? Then how do you guys talk to him?”

“Sign language. It’s a language mute and deaf people. They make signs with their hands. And these series of signs mean different words.”

“Then, what do I do?” Harry asked a bit worried.

“What can you do?” Sol rolled his eyes. But in the next moment, his eyes lit up as he looked at Harry, “Yeah, that’s an option.”

“What is?”

“Come here,” Sol beckoned.

Harry obediently stepped towards him only for Sol to put a hand on his head. Immediately a headache assaulted Harry as if thousands of centipedes were crawling and burying inside his head. The pain lasted a second as he let out a sudden cry. He stepped back and looked at Sol with red eyes and ragged breath.

“W-What did you do?”

“You'll see,” Sol replied with a mysterious smile.

Harry knew Sol had done something but he didn’t like the pain that came with it. Soon after, Sol's mother came downstairs followed by his father. His ocean-blue eyes observing Harry.

Sol's mother introduced him, “That's Sol's father.”

Sol’s father simply nodded at Harry.

“You know you don’t need to nod at him. Just talk to him,” said Sol.

His father gestured, “Does he know sign language?”

Sol nodded. Harry looked confused, “Sorry, what do I know?”

Receiving the go-ahead from Sol, his father made a series of gestures towards Harry. Harry unconsciously replied, “It's a pleasure to meet you too Mr. Balor...” Harry paused as he looked at Sol, “How can I...?”

Sol simply winked in response.

“Now, now, you two go to bed. It’s well past midnight. Harry's not going anywhere, you can ask him whatever you want tomorrow,” Sol waved his hands.

His mother pouted but then eventually gave up, “Fine, but you should heat up the food I made for him.”

“Oh no, I just a-” before he could protest, Harry was nudged by Sol and promptly shut up.

“Fine! Leave Harry alone for now. He needs some shut-eye.”

His mother nodded, “Take him to the guestroom.” She then smiled at Harry, “Make yourself comfortable, dear.”

Harry politely thanked her as both Sol's father and mother retreated upstairs.

Sol turned towards Harry, “Come now. I’ll show you to your room.” And he went upstairs and showed Harry to the guestroom.

Once inside, Harry turned around and asked, “What about the food?”

“Do you have the appetite?”

“Uh...” Harry fell into a dilemma. He then looked at Sol uneasily, “...I do.”

Sol sighed, “Listen if you can’t just say you can’t. No need to force yourself. I’ll just save it for later.”

“O-Oh okay,” Harry exhaled.

“So, sleep tonight. I’ll wake you up tomorrow at breakfast.”

“Thanks for tonight, Sol.”

Sol smiled, “Yeah, no worries.” With that Sol began to leave. However, Harry called out from behind, “I forgot to ask. It’s an hour past midnight, why were your parents still awake?”

“Oh, is that all? My mother wanted to take a look at you and my father doesn’t sleep if my mother doesn’t.”

“Me? Why?”

“She's interested in what you are,” Sol began to leave.

“What I am?”

Sol said as he waves his hands goodbye without looking back, “The boy who lived...”

“Oh.”

“...and a friend of mine.”

Next Day

“So, how long will Harry be staying here?” Sol's mother asked as everyone in the house gathered at the dining table to eat breakfast.

“Not long. I plan to take him to the Weasleys tomorrow morning,” Sol said as he fed Faye. He already had plans to go to their home tomorrow. Now he just added Harry to it, killing two birds with one stone.

“Is that right? I'll ask your father to drive you there.”

“Are we going to Ron's house?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, I was already planning to go there, now I’ll just take you along. Get Ron to owe me a favor or something.”

“Oh, okay!” Harry replied with excitement in his voice. His face had a smile that couldn’t conceal his excitement.

Next to Sol, Faye made baby noises as she ate her food. She had three teeth, two at the front and one at the back. So she still ate soft food instead of anything hard. Sol put a spoonful of baby food in her mouth again only for her to push it out of her mouth. Sol scooped the food from her lips and put it in her mouth.

“That’s bad manners! Especially in front of guests,” Sol said reproachfully as he continued to feed her. She then turned her head to look at Harry with her mouthful of food. Harry smiled back at her. Sol had already introduced Harry to Faye a while ago who kept looking at the newcomer with wonder in her eyes.

Faye laughed, making the yellow mush come out of her mouth again.

“Haah~” Sol sighed as he scooped the food back into her mouth.

“It seems she’s a bit excited that a guest is here,” Sol remarked. “Harry, do me a favor and move to the living room. I need to feed her. If you’re not done with it already, I’ll help you with your homework after I’m done.”

“Oh, alright.” With that, Harry got up from the table and headed into the living room.

Seeing him leave, Sol turned his attention to Faye who now seemed dispirited that Harry was no longer here.

The Next Day.

Sol and Harry got off the car and headed towards the Weasleys front door. Sol's father waved at them before driving off.

“Your father doesn’t want to say hi?” Harry asked seeing Sol's father drive off.

“He already is in touch with the Weasleys but him being mute and the cultural differences between Wizards and Muggles don’t help him create a better connection. Especially when all Mr. Weasley does is ask my father about muggle things.”

“Mr. Weasley can speak to him?”

“No. I or my mother need to be there to translate.”

“Then why don’t you do the same thing to them?”

Sol rolled his eyes, “Don't ask questions you won’t get the answers to.”

“Oh.”

Sol rang the doorbell. As they waited, Harry asked, “Is it alright? Coming at Eight in the morning?”

“I mean it does seem rude doing this but I sent a letter to Mrs. Weasley beforehand. And I for one, know that she’d be more than happy to accommodate you.”

They heard muffled footsteps coming towards them before the door swung open. Mrs. Weasley stood there with a smile on her face.

“Hello there, Sol” she looked over at Harry, “And this must be Harry!”

“Good morning, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry greeted her politely.

“You two came early. Ron and the others are barely awake now.”

“I mean, I did write to you about keeping it a surprise! So I guess it’s better this way,” Sol nodded.

“You didn’t tell them we were coming?” Harry asked.

“I did. Though only Mrs. Weasley.”

“Stop talking out here. Come in, come in!” she gestured for the two to come inside.

Sol and Harry headed in and Harry asked, “If you wanted to keep it a surprise, then wouldn’t it be better not to tell Mrs. Weasley as well?”

“The surprise is for your friends. Coming uninvited is just an inconvenience to the host. And we’re not here to surprise Mrs. Weasley.”

“That makes sense,” Harry replied after thinking a bit.

“Mum, is breakfast ready?” Fred's or George's voice came from upstairs.

“Take a look yourself!”

Sounds of footsteps became louder as Fred or George descended downstairs. He looked at the room before his eyes stopped on Sol and Harry. His expression changed into one of pleasant surprise.

“Woke up just now, Fred?” Sol knew Harry would have trouble knowing which twin it was, so he subtly revealed who it was.

“Hey, Sol! Harry's here too!” Fred went and hugged Sol before asking, “How did Harry get here?”

“I stole him from the muggles. It seemed they starved the poor fellow. You should’ve seen him going ham on the food!”

Harry turned red after being exposed. Mrs. Weasley spoke up to help him out, “And how are Selene and Tom doing?”

“Mom has her hands full with Faye as always and Father's doing fine as always.”

“That's good,” she nodded then looked at Fred, “Wake your brothers up! We’ll be having breakfast now. Your father's already coming back from the ministry.”

“On it!” Fred dashed upstairs.

She looked at Sol and Harry and smiled, “Make yourselves at home!”

“Will do,” Sol sat down on a sofa in the living room. Harry didn’t follow him. He walked around and started looking at the things there. It was his first time in a wizard's home so he was a bit excited. He saw a grandfather clock with nine hands, each had a small portrait of the members of the Weasley family. On the clock where the numbers should’ve been, there were words: home, work, school, outside, mortal danger, etc.

Two of the hands were on ‘work’ while the rest were on ‘home’. The two on ‘work’ had people Harry had never seen before.

They must be Bill and Charlie, Ron's brothers who’ve already graduated. Harry mused.

After a while, Ron, George, Fred, and Percy came downstairs and greeted Harry. Harry chatted with Ron and Sol talked with the twins.

“Breakfast's ready!” Mrs. Weasley shouted. Everyone gathered inside the dining room and sat down. Mrs. Weasley made bacon and eggs and served everyone at the table. As they were eating, footsteps sounded out from the stairs, and Ginny came rushing in. She asked Mrs. Weasley who was currently cooking more, “Um, Mummy, have you seen my jumper?”

“Yes dear, it was on the cat.”

After hearing this, Ginny was about to leave when she saw Harry and his eyes widened from the shock.

“Hello!” Harry greeted with a smile.

Ginny stepped back with a hint of shock on her face before dashing up the stairs. Sol, Fred, and George snickered and looked at each other. Harry felt confused and asked, “...What did I do?”

“Ginny,” Ron said, “She’s been talking about you all summer. Bit annoying to be honest.”

As they were talking, Mr. Weasley poked his head through the window behind Sol, Fred, and George. “Good morning, Weasleys!”

“Morning, Arthur!”

“Morning, Dad!”

Mr. Weasley then came inside, putting the stack of papers in his hands and his wizard's hat on a table nearby, “What a night! Nine raids. Nine!”

“Raids?” Harry looked to Ron.

“Dad works in the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Dad loves muggles, thinks they’re fascinating.” Ron explained.

Mr. Weasley sat at the table. His eyes shifted to Sol, “Ah, Sol, when did you come?”

“Just a while ago, Mr. Weasley.”

“And who are you?” Mr. Weasley asked Harry.

Harry stopped eating, “Sorry, sir. I’m Harry, sir. Harry Potter.”

Mr. Weasley looked fascinated, “Good lord...are you really? Well, Ron's told us all about you, of course. You came with Sol, I presume?”

Sol nodded, “Yeah, I brought him.”

Screech!

“Oh, that might be Errol with the post,” Mrs. Weasley remarked and looked outside the window. The others also looked outside the window. Errol was flying with letters in his mouth. It flapped its gray wings and slammed straight into the glass.

Thud!

“Ooh!” everyone winced in unison.

“Fetch it, will you, Percy please?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

Percy nodded and went to the window. Errol flapped his wings and sat up on the window frame.

“Errol,” Percy greeted.

“He’s always doing that,” Ron complained.

Percy took the envelope from Errol's mouth and opened it. He read the letters inside and said, “Oh, it’s our Hogwarts letters. Look, they’ve sent us Harry's and Sol's as well.”

He then came to the table and handed everyone their respective letters.

“Dumbledore must know you’re here,” Mr. Weasley said, “Doesn't miss a trick, that man.”

George took his letter and shook his head, “This lot won’t come cheap, mum. The spell books alone are very expensive.”

“We’ll manage,” Mrs. Weasley assured.

“What are these books?” Sol squinted, “Why do we need to buy a bunch of books by a Gilderoy Lockhart?”

“So it was true!” Mrs. Weasley's eyes glowed, “Mr. Lockhart is your new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher!”

“But who is he? I’ve never heard of-” However, Sol was cut off by her as she enthusiastically explained, “Heavens, Sol! You haven’t heard of Gilderoy Lockhart?! He’s famous.”

Sol wanted to say that Harry doesn’t know him either but then he remembered Harry doesn’t have contact with the Wizarding World.

Mrs. Weasley continued, “He is the author of many fantastic books. He wrote about how he faced many Dark Creatures and how he defeated them. I’ve read them, you know? It’s very riveting! He’s been awarded the Third Class Order of Merlin, he’s an honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award.”

Sol was stunned. He looked over the list of books he needed to buy again. He looked at Mrs. Weasley and asked, “You mean to say, all these books are non-fiction? He actually did these things?”

“Yes, Sol! How is it? Isn’t he quite brave?”

Sol wanted to say that books can be faked but looking at her happy mood, he decided not to.

Sol looked at the book list again. There were a lot of books, about 80% of them authored by Lockhart. He also had to buy the books of his 7 core subjects as well as his 2 elective subjects. He already decided on his elective subjects: Care Of Magical Creatures and Study of Magical Runes. Divination was also an elective subject but he chose not to take it. Sol was ecstatic when he first learned that there was an actual class on Divination in Hogwarts. However, his excitement immediately died down when he learned that only people with talent could divine the future. It doesn’t work for people with no talent. And these talented people are far and few in between.

There was also Arithmancy, which had the same goal as Divination- to know the future. But Arithmancy means to calculate the future using numbers. Sol didn’t choose it as an elective either. Because it is much harder to do than Divination. Even though normal people could use Arithmancy to calculate the future as opposed to Divination where people needed to have the specific talent to do so, it was very hard for wizards to do mathematical calculations. Arithmancy was also a subject that muggles and wizards had in common. Though muggles call it ‘Maths’. But the main reason why Sol didn’t take Arithmancy was that he actually knew how to do calculations to predict the future. And he was even aware of the truth of this world's Arithmancy. It was basically solving physics problems. One of the main question structures of Arithmancy is to guess what the target will do based on his actions, magic, and the environmental factors presented in numbers. This was something Sol knew how to do. He understood that he didn’t need to take the class when he could just learn it from the books in the library.

Sol frowned as he looked over at the book list. The extra books would cost a bit more than he anticipated but it was still barely manageable.

“There's only one place we’ll get these,” Mrs. Weasley smiled, “Diagon Alley.”

An Hour Later

Sol, Harry, and the Weasleys wore their cloaks as they got ready to use Floo Powder to teleport to Diagon Alley. Sol, Harry, and the Weasley brothers wore their Hogwarts robe over their outdoor clothes, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley wore pink and brown cloaks respectively whereas Mr. Weasley wore the brown coat he used when he went to the Ministry. They stood in front of the fireplace as Mrs. Weasley took the pot of Floo Powder which was next to it.

“Right,” she took the pot closer to Harry, “Here we are, Harry. You go first, dear.”

“But Harry's never traveled with Floo Powder before, mum,” Ron said worriedly.

“Floo Powder?” Harry turned to Ron and asked.

“You go first, Ron so that Harry can see how it’s done. Yes?” Mrs. Weasley motioned Ron to step forward.

Ron nodded and obediently stepped into the fireplace which had an opening tall enough for humans to stand in. He took a handful of Floo Powder from the pot. Everyone stepped back.

Ron took a deep breath then said, “Diagon Alley!” and tossed the Floo Powder to his feet. Instantly, bright light-green flames burst out from his feet and swallowed him. Everyone closed their eyes because of the sudden flash. Harry stepped back with fear in his eyes. The flames dissipated as quickly as it came and Ron was nowhere to be seen.

As Harry was shaken, Mrs. Weasley turned towards him and nudged him forwards, “You see? It’s quite easy, dear. Don’t be afraid, come on.”

Harry stepped forward in a daze.

“In you go, dear. Mind your head. That’s it.”

Harry lowered his head and stepped into the fireplace and turned around to look at the others.

“Now take the Floo Powder,” Mrs. Weasley brought the pot closer to him. Harry grabbed a handful of Floo Powder.

“That’s it. Very good!” She looked at Harry with a serious expression. “Now, don’t forget to speak very, very clearly,” she warned as she wagged her finger.

Harry took a deep breath and said, “Diagonally!” before throwing the Powder to his feet. The light-green flames flashed and swallowed him. It dissipated a moment later revealing nothing inside.

Everyone stepped forwards and looked at each other. “What did he say?” Mrs. Weasley asked a bit concerned.

“Diagonally,” Mr. Weasley replied.

“I thought he did.”

“Christ's sake...” Sol sighed, “I'll go get him. Would be bad if he ends up in Knockturn Alley.”

“Go ahead, dear.” Mrs. Weasley motioned Sol to come forward.

Sol for into the fireplace and took a handful of Floo Powder. He then threw the Powder as he said, “Diagonally!”

A flash of light-green flames devoured him as he disappeared from everyone’s sight.