The Cause of His Parents' Death

"Hey! Are you talking about me?"

A cheerful, enthusiastic voice reached his ears.

Harry turned his head again. The speaker was the blonde teenager.

He was pushing a trolley towards him.

This boy's owl was also an snowy owl, just like his Hedwig.

This similarity, in a way, made Harry unconsciously relax.

He started to notice that the station had become empty, with most people already on the train.

And the person approaching was Basil.

He was smiling particularly brightly now, his eyes narrowed into slits.

His heart felt as refreshed as wearing new underwear on New Year's morning!

It wasn't because the two people opposite him might be Harry and Ron.

It was because of his now bulging coin purse, and the gems that had reached the 10,000 mark.

He was only two-thirds of the way to activating the world-crossing function and recovering the important components.

Moreover, he had made a lot of 'friends'.

Anyone who didn't object was his 'friend'!

This had even led him to discover a new function – viewing 'friend' data.

Most importantly, he hadn't spotted any original characters from the game in the crowd.

This further confirmed that this world was more fundamentalist, a novel world view.

After all, with this much excitement, Robin would definitely appear.

If that were the case, Voldemort would still only be good at welding.

And wouldn't have the epic-level buff to unleash dense, instant-kill chain Avada lightning.

On the other hand, facing Basil's smiling words.

The red-haired boy, Ron, stammered.

"I wasn't."

Harry also lowered his head unconsciously.

Basil raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Harry and Ron to be so introverted and shy.

"Hello, I'm Basil Granger!"

He directly extended his hand.

"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron's ears turned red as he touched Basil's hand.

"I'm Harry Potter." Harry said immediately after, also a quick touch and release.

Both of them were like young girls just out of the boudoir, shy and hesitant to speak.

Smack! Ron slapped his thigh hard, his eyes widening.

Upon hearing Harry's name, he immediately transformed from a shy mimosa into a cheerful sunflower.

"What!"

"Harry Potter?"

"You're that Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded.

"I-I mean, can I..." Ron stammered, pointing at the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Ron Weasley!"

"How dare you!"

A high-pitched female voice rang out, causing Harry to retract the hand he had placed over his hair curtain.

"Mum!" Ron seemed to shrink considerably.

Basil smirked, enjoying the amusing scene.

Mrs. Weasley: "It's one thing for you to run off!"

Ron said aggrievedly: "I was just standing here!"

Mrs. Weasley: "And you dare talk back!"

Beside them, a cute little girl was hopping. "Mum, Harry Potter!"

Mrs. Weasley's voice suddenly changed from high-pitched to soft, like a roller coaster going downhill.

She was very gentle towards Harry and Ginny.

"Oh, Ginny. Harry isn't some animal at the zoo!"

"And Harry, it's so good to finally meet you! You might not know this, but I'm a friend of your parents."

Ten minutes later, Basil, Harry, and Ron had boarded the train.

As departure time approached, Mrs. Weasley didn't linger for pleasantries.

However, in those ten minutes, Mrs. Weasley had lavished all her warmth on Harry and Ginny.

Even Basil received a little.

Ahem, how should I put this.

Although Mrs. Weasley's figure had changed, she was truly beautiful.

Especially her chest.

Movies and reality really do have a gap!

Just like Ginny, whose features were delicate and charming just now.

But in the movie, she had a square face and was utterly plain.

Getting sidetracked.

On the other side, Ron had absorbed all of Mrs. Weasley's negative emotions.

She told him he hadn't set a good example for his sister.

Clumsy, not as good as his brothers, though slightly better than George and Fred.

So, even now, Ron was still dejected, like a frostbitten eggplant.

Muttering things like, "Bad luck," and "Why aren't Fred and George here?"

Harry wanted to say something to Ron, but he kept getting no response.

So, he struck up a conversation with Basil.

"You're asking if my extracurricular book recommendations for years one through seven are reliable?"

"Hmm, how should I put it."

"These are related books I found in my own library after previewing first-year textbooks and briefly looking through textbooks for other years."

"Of course, this will definitely be helpful for wizards from Muggle families."

Basil's words instantly dampened Harry's spirits.

"Previewing? I'm definitely terrible at it!"

"I've only flipped through all the books!"

"I'm definitely going to be the worst student in class!"

Harry's worried expression made Ron perk up.

"No way!"

"I'm not talented! I haven't flipped through a single book!"

Ron stood tall and puffed out his chest.

"Someone like Basil is the exception!"

"Think about it! Who else could get a pocketful of Galleons in such a short time!"

"I dare say even the most diligent Ravenclaw wouldn't preview and create an extracurricular reading list like him!"

"What's more, you're Harry Potter!"

Ron's tone was so confident that Harry, whose face had turned a little pale, regained some color.

Seeing that Harry was alright, Ron smiled.

He said in a gloating tone, "That distribution map of influential figures in the Ministry of Magic was also made up, right? I can't help but laugh thinking about Percy falling for it."

He cleared his throat and imitated Percy, "I am Percy, a Hogwarts prefect, and the future Minister of Magic!"

Basil coughed, "Sorry. This is serious."

"My ancestors were all Hufflepuffs. Knowing who not to offend is our way of survival."

"Of course, that's their way. Not mine. In the wizarding world, profound magic is more important than power."

"Like Dumbledore, even though he's not the Minister, he's more influential than the Minister."

Harry quickly nodded, "I know that! Hagrid said the Minister of Magic often writes to Dumbledore just to ask for his opinion."

Ron looked a little disappointed and slumped back into his seat.

He had always been influenced by Dumbledore's great words and knew them well.

Therefore, he cared more about whether Percy had fallen for it.

The thought of Percy not falling for it made him feel worse than death.

Basil noticed this and added, "That map is real, but it might be outdated. My father wrote it, but they all passed away before I turned one. They were reportedly killed by passing Death Eaters."

"That's great!" Ron blurted out, then quickly put on a sorrowful expression, "I mean, my condolences. But... were they really just passing by? Not specifically targeted?"

"My parents too! We're the same!" Harry's tone was laced with an inexplicable joy.

So filial it hurts.

"Enough! Both of you!" Basil rolled his eyes.

"My grandmother said—"

Harry: "You still have a grandmother."

Basil: "Hey!"

Ron: "Harry! Basil, you continue."

Basil: "My grandmother said that Death Eater was indeed passing through. Apparently, he was on his way to London, intending to cross Holbeim Forest."

"He happened to see my parents, who were playing aerial tag."

"He couldn't resist, and used his newly learned Killing Curse to kill them."

Harry, Ron: "Our condolences!"

Basil: "It's nothing. I don't have any memories of them. To be honest, I've only mourned the death of my grandmother."

Harry: "You're an orphan too? Then we're still the same!"

Basil, Ron: "Hey!"

Harry's eyes darted around.

At this moment, a loud clatter came from the aisle, and a smiling woman with dimples pushed open the compartment door and asked, "Dear, would you like to buy any snacks from the trolley?"

Harry waved his hand as if he'd seen a savior, "Three of everything!"