As Harry painstakingly dragged his heavy trunk through the crowded platform, Wade had already found an empty compartment and sat down. Taking advantage of the quiet, he quickly changed into his school robes and started reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
In the past month, Wade had roughly skimmed all the books he bought. Content-wise, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (also known as Where to Find Them) was his favourite. Of course, this fondness might also have been influenced by the author—Newt Scamander, the author of this book, was the protagonist of another Harry Potter film series. He held a deep love for all kinds of magical creatures and possessed a magical suitcase that Wade envied immensely.
After a while, the compartment door suddenly opened. A brown-haired girl stood at the entrance, looked around, and then, chin slightly raised, asked, "Excuse me, is anyone else coming to this compartment?"
Wade's gaze swept over her rather prominent front teeth. "No."
"Oh."
The girl dragged her trunk inside. After sitting down, she looked up and said, "Hello, I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger."
Wade put down his book and extended a hand. "Wade Gray."
"You're reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? So you're a first-year too? Me too! By the way, I've memorised the entire contents of this book, and the other textbooks too, of course." Hermione spoke in a rapid-fire manner, with a hint of pride. "Oh, and I've practised a few simple spells, and they all worked. Like this—Lumos!"
A soft light glowed from the tip of her wand.
"Although I haven't memorised the textbooks, however—" Wade also drew his wand. "Lumos!"
The two small, lightbulb-like glows shimmered, as if proving their kinship. Hermione grinned, and with a hint of longing, softly said, "It's truly magical, isn't it?"
Wade silently nodded.
Hermione suddenly remembered something and quickly explained, "Oh, I'm from a non-magical family... a Muggle-born, that is. No one in my family understands magic. These little tricks must be commonplace for you, right?"
Wade replied, "No, my parents don't do magic either."
"Then we can help each other at school!" Hermione said happily. "I mean—children from wizarding families must have been learning with their parents since childhood, mastering lots of magic, right? I really don't want to be the worst student."
"You don't have to worry about that," Wade couldn't help but smile, saying, "I'm sure not many people have memorised their textbooks. You might be the only one. You're really amazing, Miss Granger."
"Well, actually... not really... Um... I mean, some of the content is quite difficult, and there are some spells I didn't dare try at home because the book said there would be terrible consequences if the spell was mispronounced." Hermione said, blushing and stammering.
As she was feeling embarrassed, the compartment door was pushed open again. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and immediately looked towards the doorway.
A round-faced boy stood hesitantly at the entrance, timidly asking, "Excuse me, may I sit here?"
"Of course, please come in!" Hermione said enthusiastically, leading the way.
The boy clumsily set down his trunk. After sitting, he nervously wrung his fingers, as if he rarely interacted with others.
Hermione proactively introduced herself. "Hello. I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Wade Gray. We're both first-years—what's your name?"
"Neville," he said. "My name is Neville Longbottom. Uh, also a first-year."
"Oh, are you from a non-magical family too?" Hermione asked curiously.
Neville lowered his head. "No... my parents are both wizards."
"Then you must know a lot of magic?" Hermione said. "I've only mastered Lumos and Reparo, just a few simple spells. But I'm still a bit unsure about the Full Body-Bind Curse, should it be Petri-ficus To-ta-lus, or Petrifi-cus Tota—lus?"
Neville looked bewildered. "Pe—Petri what?"
Hermione blinked, as if not understanding what he was asking.
Neville said with a tearful face, "I... I haven't even mastered Lumos yet!"
"...Oh." Hermione was a little disappointed, but also a little pleased. She straightened her chest slightly and said, "Well, it's okay, I can teach you—I mean—we can learn from each other..."
Neville looked like he was about to cry.
"Neville," Wade suddenly said, "what's moving in your pocket?"
Neville looked down. "Ah, it's my pet. It always likes to run off."
He pulled out a greyish-black toad from his pocket, holding it in his palm and happily introducing it to them. "Look, his name is Trevor."
Wade and Hermione instinctively leaned back, trying to distance themselves from the ugly creature without Neville noticing.
The squat toad stretched its legs and leaped fiercely from Neville's hand. Coincidentally, Neville hadn't closed the compartment door when he came in, so Mr. Trevor unhesitatingly bounded towards freedom, disappearing after two hops.
Neville stared at his empty palm, frozen for two seconds, then let out a wail. "Trevor!"
He chased after it. Wade heard the boy accidentally bump into the carriage wall.
The two in the compartment exchanged glances.
Hermione whispered, "Even though the acceptance letter mentioned it... I never thought anyone would actually have a toad as a pet!"
Wade nodded in agreement. He knew some golden, pink, or emerald green toads could indeed be quite pretty, but how could anyone genuinely like those dull, bumpy ones?
Neville genuinely loved his toad.
After a long while, the boy returned, wiping away tears, and tearfully said, "I couldn't find him—everyone said they didn't see him—"
Wade tried to console him. "The train is enclosed. You'll definitely find him when you get off." Surely no one would steal a toad.
Neville wasn't comforted, and his tears continued to fall.
Seeing how sad he was, Hermione sighed helplessly, stood up, and said, "I'll go look with you."
She questioned Wade with her eyes, but Wade shook his head.
Hermione and Neville left, and the previously somewhat noisy compartment immediately became quiet. Wade looked out the window, watching the rolling hills slowly move backward.
He knew that if he went with Hermione to look for the toad, he would meet Harry and Ron, and eleven-year-old children easily became friends. Thus, the Golden Trio would become a quartet.
But Wade pondered for a long time and still felt there was no need for him to cling to the protagonist. What attracted him wasn't the adventurous story of elementary school students confronting a Dark Lord as a game this year; magic itself was interesting enough.
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