"Faithful Guardian!"
Light leapt from the tip of the Wand. Blue-violet mist billowed out, mingling with flecks of light like a dazzling firework.
It was a memory from childhood.
In the garden of the Burrow, outside Ottery St Catchpole, their father had bought Muggle Fireworks to celebrate Christmas. But they'd gotten soaked by the rain and wouldn't light, no matter what he tried. Finally, with their mother grumbling at him, he'd scratched his head and used his Wand to set off the Fireworks instead.
As time passed, those brilliant Fireworks had gradually grown hazy, fading into a tipsy, cool night breeze.
In the night breeze, by the light of a Bonfire, he could see through the hazy Fireworks the radiant smiles of his family.
Percy, George, and Fred chasing and wrestling with one another; Bill waving his arms and egging them on; his older brother Charlie lounging coolly against a haystack, watching everything with a soft laugh; their mother Molly gasping and scolding them with a smile; their father laughing heartily, his gums showing; and his baby sister Ginny babbling in her pram...
Ron stared blankly at the light pouring from the tip of his Wand, a happy smile spreading across his face without him even realizing it. He looked a little silly.
He was an ordinary child in a family where he wasn't the most outstanding, the loudest, or the most distinctive. He was often overlooked. His father was always rushing off to work, and his mother was worn out from taking care of such a big family. Ron knew how to behave; it was just that the more well-behaved he was, the easier he was to overlook.
But wasn't living in a family like this a kind of happiness in itself?
At least Ron had always felt happy,