Ten-year-old Charlie Weasley was very busy putting the finishing touches on the model dinosaur he’d constructed. He usually wasn’t the artistic type, but the kit had caught his eye at the Muggle toy store where his father had taken him to pick out his birthday present.

He had expected his tenth birthday present to be as unexciting as the previous nine he’d received, like sixty-year-old dress robes that he was forced to wear to the annual Prewett New Year’s Party or socks his mother had knitted him. He’d been excited when his parents told him that he pick out something new, but the excitement had quickly faded when he’d been told it would be from the Muggle toy store. He was already getting to the age where he felt he was too old for toys. Muggle ones were especially boring – they didn’t explode or whiz around like magical ones. The Tin Soldier, Ottery St. Catchpole’s own toy store, was especially dull. It was small, so there wasn’t much selection, and most of the items looked like they’d been sitting on the shelf for the past ten years.

Charlie was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, when he found a build-your-own T-rex kit at the toy store. He’d recently found out that the books he’d been reading about dragons had very inaccurate information about the dragons’ ancestor, the dinosaur. Much of the illustrations of Muggle reconstructions of dinosaurs based on paleontology was nearly a century out of date. The kit, on the other hand, looked much newer than most of the toys at The Tin Soldier, and certainly was much less than a hundred years old. Charlie couldn’t wait to see what dinosaurs really had looked like.

So when his Percy came into his bedroom, nearly causing him to spill orange paint all over the T-rex he’d worked so hard on, Charlie was obviously less than pleased. He found his six-year-old brother to be somewhat of a pain, quite condescending just because Charlie was dyslexic, and a real tattletale besides.

“What do you want?� Charlie asked, glaring at Percy.

“Will you take me to the library?� Percy asked.

“Why?� Charlie demanded. “You have a ton of books in your room.�

“But I’ve read all of them!� wailed Percy.

“Ask Mum to take you,� Charlie suggested.

“I already did,� Percy replied, “but she says that she forgot to get one of the books Bill needs for school, so she’s gonna go buy it now and owl it to him.�

“You can ask her or Dad to take you there later,� Charlie suggested.

“But the library closes in an hour, and it’s closed all weekend,� Percy replied.

“So Mum will take you on Monday,� Charlie said.

“But there’s a book that I want now!� Percy whined.

Charlie was getting quite annoyed. He wanted to finish up his model dinosaur, but instead he was stuck listening to his boring little brother complain. Merlin! thought Charlie. Percy and his books! He’s certainly going to be the one to break the family tradition and end up in Ravenclaw. Then an idea struck him. “Percy,� he said, “you’re such a wimp.�

“Am not!�

“Yes, you are,� Charlie said. “You’re such a wimp that you’re not going to get into Gryffindor when you go to Hogwarts.�

“Am too!�

“No,� Charlie said. “You’re not brave enough.�

“I’m brave!�

“Okay, prove it to me,� Charlie said.

“How?� Percy asked.

“I dare you to sneak down to Ottery St. Catchpole and get your library book all by yourself,� Charlie challenged.

“But that’s against the rules!� Percy exclaimed, horrified.

“But if you’re brave, you won’t care about what will happen if you break the rules,� Charlie informed him. “If you don’t do it, it’ll prove that you’re not brave and you won’t end up in Gryffindor.�

Percy was torn. He didn’t want to break the rules, but he really wanted that library book. Even more, he wanted to prove Charlie wrong and show him that he was a Gryffindor, not a wimp. So he just stood in the doorway, wracked by indecision.

“Wimp!� Charlie taunted.

“Am not!� Percy yelled as he ran from the room. Charlie assumed that Percy had gone to cry in his own room. He returned to painting his T-rex, happily freed of the distraction of his little brother. It didn’t even occur to him for a second that Percy actually might have gone to the village.

o.O.o

Percy glanced around worriedly. The world had never seemed so big before. Ottery St. Catchpole had always seemed so safe with his mother’s or a brother’s hand wrapped securely around his own, but it felt different on his own. Scary.

He’d managed to find the book he wanted in the children’s section all by himself. Thankfully, it was on a low shelf that he could reach, so he didn’t have to ask any strangers to get it for him. He’d proudly presented the book and his very own library card, his fifth birthday present, to the librarian, who’d checked the book out for him.

Now he was making his way home – he hoped. The walk to the library had seemed quick and easy, but getting back seemed to be taking much longer. He panted as he trudged up the hill. He was getting very tired, and his house was nowhere in sight. There weren’t too many roads in Ottery St. Catchpole, but what if he’d taken the wrong one and would never get home?

Percy heard voices behind him and turned around, hoping it would be a helpful adult. Instead, he saw a group of children talking and laughing as they rode on the wheeled things his father called tribikles. They weren’t grown-ups, but maybe when they came by he could ask them for help. Some of them looked like they could be a little older than him, at least.

He stood by the side of the road, waiting for them to catch up with him. They seemed in no hurry to get up the hill, though. They were too engrossed in their conversation to move quickly.

“My mummy already started working on my costume,� said one girl. “I’m going to be a black cat.�

“That isn’t scary, Jane,� one of the boys replied.

“Yes it is, Tommy,� she explained. “They’re bad luck if they cross your path.�

“Well I’m going to be something scarier,� Tommy bragged.

“What?� the other children asked at the same time.

“A bat,� Tommy told them.

“How’s that scarier than a black cat?� Jane asked.

“Bats fly into your room at night,� Tommy said. “Then they turn into vampires and suck your blood!�

“Tommy!� scolded a slightly chubby older girl with light blonde ringlets. She pointed to a little girl riding next to her with similar hair and features. “You’re going to give Ellie here nightmares.�

“Sorry,� Tommy said. He didn’t sound sorry at all.

“So what are you going to be, Ellie?� another older girl, this one with straight brown hair, asked.

“A witch!� Ellie proclaimed proudly.

“Ooh, that sounds scary!� the brown-haired girl said kindly.

“It really does look scary,� the blonde-haired older girl told the brown-haired one. “My mum made it for Ellie, and she absolutely loves it. It’s so cute!�

The group of children finally had almost made it to where Percy stood. He wasn’t used to talking to other children besides his siblings, but he summoned up all of his courage and said, “Excuse me.�

“Yes?� replied the older blonde-haired girl. “Can we help you?�

Percy was going to ask directions home. He really, honestly was. Another question slipped out of his mouth, though. “Why are witches scary?�

All the kids laughed. Tommy said to one of the other boys, “The little kid must be from one of those freaky families who won’t let their children celebrate Halloween or Christmas or anything because of their religion or something. I heard my mum and dad talking about those people. Those sorts of people shouldn’t be allowed, my mum says.�

Percy felt horrible. First the other children had talked about bats turning into vampires, which was confusing because he was pretty sure it wasn’t true. Then they’d insulted his mother and sister, called them scary. Now they’d said his family shouldn’t be allowed. He could feel his face turning the very distinctly Weasley shade of red in shame.

He tried to hold back his tears to prevent embarrassment as he made his way up the hill. He didn’t know if it was the right way home or not, but he just wanted to get away from mean Tommy and the other children. When the Burrow’s wall came into sight five minutes later, he took off towards it at a run. He still was running when he went in the front door, not caring if he got caught, only desiring the safety of home.

o.O.o

“Percy, stop playing with your peas!� Molly scolded.

Percy felt close to tears once more. When he got home, nobody had noticed that he’d been gone. He went to his room and tried to immerse himself in the book he’d been so excited to get from the library only a couple of hours before, but he couldn’t concentrate. He kept hearing Tommy saying, “Those sorts of people shouldn’t be allowed.� When dinnertime had been announced, he’d come to the table with everyone else but found that he couldn’t eat. Now he was being told off, and it felt terrible. He never got in trouble. The twins and Ron did all the time, and his mother yelled at Charlie some, too. Even perfect Bill got in trouble more than he did. Only Ginny got scolded less, and that was because she was a baby.

Percy continued to move his food around on his plate instead of eating it, and got scolded several more times. Finally his father asked, “Is there anything bothering you, son?�

Once again, Percy felt torn about what to do. His world usually provided such easy choices. Following the rules was easy. He did what the rules allowed and didn’t do what was against them. His world was black and white, and now he was experiencing shades of gray. He’d have to admit his prior rule-breaking if he were to tell his parents what was bothering him, and he’d probably get in trouble. If he didn’t tell what was bothering him, he’d have to stay at the table for the rest of his life, because it was the rule in the Weasley household that you stayed at the table until you finished your food. Percy didn’t have an appetite and was pretty sure it would never return.

The prospect of sitting at the table for eternity, never able to read another book, sitting alone on his chair watching his brothers play, missing going to Hogwarts, watching as baby Ginny got to go, just staring at the peas and potatoes and chicken until he grew older than his Grandmother Prewett was what finally made up his mind. He couldn’t let that happen, so told his father, “Somebody said something bad about Mummy and us.�

“Boys, all of you are done eating, so why don’t you go out and play in the garden while Percy and I talk?� Arthur phrased it as a question, but it was really an order. Turning to Percy, he said, “Who did?�

“Some Muggle children,� Percy told him.

“Why?� Arthur inquired.

“I dunno,� Percy replied.

“Did they say anything else?� Arthur asked.

“They were talking about dressing up,� Percy said. “One girl was gonna be a black cat ‘cuz they’re unlucky, a boy was going to be a bat that turns into a vampire, and another girl was gonna be an evil witch. Witches aren’t evil, are they? Mummy isn’t evil, right Dad?�

“No, son, don’t worry about it,� Arthur said, relieved the issue wasn't bigger.

Percy wasn’t content, though. “But why would they say it if it wasn’t true?� he asked.

“Muggles don’t know much about magic,� Arthur explained. “When people don’t understand something, they often are scared of it. It’s kind of like when Uncle Bilius brings his St. Bernard to the Prewett New Year’s party and cousin Louisa brings her miniature crup.�

“The both bark at each other,� Percy filled in.

“Exactly,� said Arthur. “Then they run opposite directions and then avoid each other for the rest of the evening. The crup is afraid of the big St. Bernard because it usually doesn’t see dogs so huge and it feels tiny, like it could just be a snack for the bigger dog. The St. Bernard has never seen such a small, strange-looking dog before, and is afraid might be some sort of miniature monster and eat it. Which isn’t really that off base, as crups will eat a lot of different things. Rather like goats or pigs, now that I come to think of it.�

Percy asked another question that had been bothering him. “Why were the other kids talking about dress-up?�

“The probably are rather poor,� Arthur said. “Muggles have a tradition where poor and starving children disguise themselves and go out on Halloween night to ask shopkeepers for food or money. If the shopkeepers don’t give the kids anything, the children will do cruel things, sometimes even smash in the shop’s windows. Treat-or-tricking, I believe it’s called.�

“Arthur!� Molly’s shout came from the garden.

“Yes, dear?� Mr. Weasley yelled back.

Mrs. Weasley peered in the kitchen door, Ron in her arms. Huffing, she said, “Gred and Forge – Fred and George – were teasing little Ronny and chasing him around. He tripped and fell. I need you out here to deal with their punishment while I come inside to clean up Ronnykins’s scraped knee.�

By the time his father had mentioned goats, he’d long ago lost his son’s comprehension. Percy didn’t want to appear childish and tag along after his father, asking questions like the twins and Ronny did, but he was thoroughly confused. Why had the Muggle boy lied and said his mother was evil, and what in the world did St. Bernards have to do with any of it?