Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Archmage

"Who are you? Aren't you afraid of us?"

Harry looked at the red-haired boy standing by the door and asked curiously. It was the first time he had met a wizard who showed kindness to him and his cousin today.

"I'm Ron Weasley. I'm different from them," Ron replied somewhat nervously but seriously. "My mom told me that Harry Potter is a gift bestowed upon the wizarding world. Without you, who knows how long the Dark Lord would have ruled the wizarding world?"

"I don't understand why others suddenly stopped being grateful to you. It's not your fault that the Dark Lord isn't dead. At least you gave the wizarding world ten years of peace, right?"

Harry was overjoyed when he heard Ron's words.

He turned to look at Dudley and saw his cousin nodding, confirming that what the wizard said was true. Then he immediately stood up and helpfully helped Ron put away his suitcase, and invited him into the compartment to take a seat.

"My cousin's right. There are still some wizards who can tell right from wrong. Ron, nice to meet you!"

Harry said cheerfully, feeling more confident about his plan.

He enthusiastically introduced Ron, saying, "Ron, this is my cousin, Dudley Dursley!"

Dudley followed Harry's introduction and nodded with a smile at Ron.

"Wow! I know! I heard about it! Your cousin used a strong wind to blow away a lot of wizards at the platform's brick wall, and there were even some adults among them! It was so amazing!"

Ron looked at Dudley with admiration, his eyes shining. Then he added indignantly, "Most of those people are from Slytherin or have parents from Slytherin. They're so bad. They've been spreading bad things about you all over the train!"

Dudley could tell Ron was exaggerating. Going with the flow isn't limited to any particular house.

He clearly remembered that on the wizards' trolleys, there were emblematic decorations of all four houses: Gryffindor (the Lion), Hufflepuff (the Badger), Ravenclaw (the Eagle), and Slytherin (the Snake). However, there were indeed more Slytherins.

"Alright, let's not talk about that! Ron, if you don't mind, have some Muggle snacks! Harry and I would be happy to share them with you!"

Dudley pointed to the large amount of unopened snacks on the table.

"Great! Of course I don't mind. Our family isn't like those wizards who believe in pure-blood supremacy. I'm starving, and the sandwiches my mom prepared for me have gone cold. Thanks for the snacks!"

Ron grabbed two chocolate bars and started munching on them. His way of eating was quite endearing.

Woohoo -

The scenery outside the window began to slowly move backward. The Hogwarts Express had started.

Harry, Dudley, and their new friend were becoming more and more familiar with each other.

"Ron, were you born into a wizarding family? Are your mom and dad both wizards? Do you have any siblings..."

Finally meeting someone he could talk to, Harry was in high spirits for chatting.

Ron's response was also very warm, but when it came to having five older brothers and one younger sister, there was inevitably a bit of helplessness in his tone.

"Harry, you can't imagine how terrible it is to have five older brothers!"

This means I'll never get my own new stuff. The robe I'm wearing was Bill's, the wand I'm using was Charlie's, and even the pet I'm keeping was Percy's cast - off, a fat, grey one-toed rat!

As Ron spoke, he took a sleeping one-toed rat out of his robe pocket, completely unaware of the complex look that flashed across Harry's eyes when he mentioned the rat.

"It's called Scabbers. It's been in our family for nearly ten years. In rat years, it's already an old man, so it sleeps all day long and only gets active when it's time to eat."

Ron introduced his pet rat by himself. He placed it on the table in the compartment. Seeing that the smelly rat was still asleep, he picked it up again and gently patted its face.

"Hey! Scabbers, wake up! It's time to eat!"

Ron called to his pet and forcefully stuffed the half - eaten chocolate bar in his hand into the rat's mouth.

Dudley gave a little cough to get Ron's attention and explained, "Ron, rats can't eat chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine, which is poison to rats."

Ron blushed with embarrassment. He quickly tried to make up an excuse, saying, "I know. I was trying to let Scabbers eat the cookie inside the chocolate bar. It's very smart!"

Peter Pettigrew, who had transformed into Scabbers, was finally poked awake by his hapless master. In a daze, he heard his master trying to poison him and shivered in fright. He quickly wriggled out of Ron's hand and landed on the table in the compartment.

"Oh~ It's so smart! It knows how to dodge! Can I touch it? I have some pet rations here. They were originally prepared for Harry's Hedwig."

Dudley lied with a look of surprise on his face. His expression was just like that of a real boy who liked pet rats, exuding kindness all over.

He slowly reached out one hand towards Scabbers, the rat that Peter Pettigrew had transformed into, while naturally slipping the other hand into the large pocket of his robe. He rummaged around inside and took out a pack of specially - made dried meat from his Personal Space.

"Sure, go ahead and touch it!"

Ron thought Dudley really liked Scabbers and generously agreed. He also reminded his pet, "This is my friend. You can't bite him, Scabbers!"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak —"

Peter Pettigrew squeaked.

Because he suddenly smelled an alluring fragrance. Following the scent, his eyes locked onto the opened pack of tempting dried meat that Dudley had just taken out.

When a wizard transforms into an animal using the Animagus form, they inherit the abilities of that animal.

As a rat, Peter Pettigrew naturally had a rat's sense of smell and a preference for certain scents.

So, he simply couldn't resist the pack of dried meat that Dudley held in his hand, which had been marinated with a special Muggle rat poison.

Especially when Dudley was playing along and showing kindness, making him feel no danger.

"Squeak!"

Peter Pettigrew directly jumped onto Dudley's outstretched hand.

He thought the wizard in front of him was a nice guy. The wizard had just reminded his stupid master not to feed him chocolate, and now he even prepared such delicious food for him.

What a lucky day! Meeting such a nice guy!

Dudley held the gray mouse with a broken toe, actually Peter Pettigrew in disguise, in his hand, and his eyes curved into crescents with a big smile.

He used his other hand to tear the opening of the bag of specially - made pet rations a bit wider, and then gently put Peter Pettigrew's mouse head into it.

With the delicious food right in front of his nose, Peter Pettigrew could no longer hold back his appetite. Immediately, he opened his mouse - like mouth, bared his mouse - like teeth, and ate with great satisfaction.

Ron on the opposite side didn't notice anything amiss at all.

He never imagined that Dudley had stopped him from poisoning Scabbers so that Dudley could feed the rat poison to Scabbers himself.

If a rat has narcolepsy, it's reasonable to give it some rat poison, isn't it?