"Hello, my name is—"
The first student who squeezed into the compartment didn't even get to introduce himself before being drowned out by the second student's excited shout: "There's a seat here!"
He practically barreled in, unable to suppress the huge grin on his face.
"Hi, I'm Seamus Finnigan."
"Hello," Andrew introduced himself as well, and the first boy finally managed to get his own name in—Kevin Badd.
"We're still one short…" Seamus said quickly. "Most of the compartments were full—I didn't expect… the train is packed…"
"Well, of course. All Hogwarts students ride the train to school. The older students usually sit with friends, so they're not likely to sit with us."
"Ah, right, I should have figured that out."
Seamus was all over the place, clearly excited. "I've wanted to go to Hogwarts ever since I was little, but my mum kept telling me to wait until I turned eleven… Merlin, I don't even know how I waited all these years!"
"Well, we're not there yet—there's still the Sorting."
Kevin rested his arms on the little table, smiling gently.
"Oh, the Sorting…"
"…Dear lord…"
Seamus's grin vanished in an instant.
"I've asked so many people, but no one ever tells me what it's really like—or the ones who do never give the same answer…"
"If I don't get sorted and get sent home… what will Mum say…"
"Don't worry, sounds like your mum loves you. I bet she'll just make you a table full of delicious food to comfort you."
Kevin sounded reassuring.
"Oh, absolutely not!"
"She was thrilled when I showed magical talent—if I got kicked out…"
Even Andrew, who hadn't said a word, couldn't keep a straight face.
Where on earth did this Kevin guy come from? That kind of teasing fit perfectly with Hogwarts' tradition of keeping the Sorting secret—but it was a bit cruel.
Trying to stay friendly, Andrew decided to keep quiet. Exposing someone this early could easily ruin the start of a potential friendship. Better to let things play out.
Luckily, Seamus wasn't dumb. Seeing that neither of them seemed worried, he seemed to dig up some "go-with-the-flow" attitude from somewhere—if they weren't panicking, why should he?
Still, after realizing what was going on, he gave up on talking to Kevin and angrily pulled out a book from his luggage and started reading.
Andrew, both amused and resigned, flipped open his own reading material.
Soon, the fourth member arrived—a somewhat nervous boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley stepped into the compartment.
"Thank goodness I made it."
He looked cautiously at the three who had arrived before him, and, seeing no objections, picked a seat.
"The train was running late, I… almost… whew, nearly missed it…"
"Hi, I'm… Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said, still catching his breath. "I thought that platform thing was a joke. That wall looked way too solid, and then I just… whoosh, straight through!"
"It really is well-hidden."
Seamus perked up again. "But I just ran for it the moment I opened my eyes!"
"You're brave," Justin said admiringly. "Not like me—I didn't know anything at all."
"Oh, it's nothing." Seamus puffed up proudly like a little rooster. "My mum said she hopes I'll get into Gryffindor and grow up brave!"
"Gryffindor?"
"Yeah, the best house," Seamus said firmly. "A lot of people I know say that."
"I'm not too sure…"
"Well, Hogwarts has four houses. The best is Gryffindor, the worst is Slytherin. The other two are Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
Andrew couldn't help it—he kind of wanted to see Seamus's face if he got sorted into Slytherin.
But Seamus's little lecture was cut short.
"Hey, did you guys hear? Harry Potter is on the train!"
A head popped into their compartment, but vanished before Andrew could see who it was—leaving behind a bombshell of a message.
Everyone except Justin reacted. His face was just confused, but the other three clearly understood.
Seamus reacted the strongest. "Harry Potter?!"
"Merlin's beard—that's the second most famous wizard my mum ever talked about!"
"Is he really that powerful?" Justin asked, before anyone else could say anything.
Then came a flood of explanations—stuff Andrew had heard a hundred times. Even a speedrun version wouldn't skip this info dump.
Before long, Andrew got to witness what a real tourist crowd looked like.
It was like someone had tossed tear gas into their compartment—the hallway outside was crammed with people. The trolley witch kept muttering apologies as she squeezed through, and Andrew suddenly felt like it was Chinese New Year travel rush season all over again.
And, just his luck—Harry Potter was in their train car.
Needless to say, the crowd even overflowed into their compartment.
Some older students even muscled their way in under the guise of "checking on first-years," filling the space to the brim.
But the upside? Andrew and the others got an early glimpse into life at Hogwarts.
Still, the conversation drifted away from Harry Potter to something Andrew really didn't want to hear…
"Right, right—that book Dumbledore: A Legend!"
"Some people say it's made up, but I swear—it only adds a few easy-to-understand stories. The truth is even more incredible!"
"Our Ravenclaw doorknocker once got stumped by Dumbledore himself. That's when it accidentally revealed the existence of a one-time-use replica of the Ravenclaw diadem. It drew power from the original! That's why Dumbledore's so wise!"
…
Oh come on. You're even more ridiculous than the editors…
But the guy sounded so confident, even Andrew couldn't tell if he was bluffing. What if it was true?
Who knew how much truth could be buried in exaggerated "knowledge"?
"For real?"
"Of course! That diadem was a one-of-a-kind alchemical item made to reward the most brilliant Ravenclaws—crafted to prevent them from misusing the original's power!"
"Amazing! I heard that floating charm test for magical ability was invented by Ravenclaw for Hogwarts entrance exams—but then the pure-bloods stole it for their own use. And now you're saying it goes even deeper?"
"Exactly! Wisdom is the greatest treasure!"
"Totally," Andrew said, feeling a headache coming on. "Sorry, could you let me through? I think I need to use the restroom."