The Hogwarts Express

"Magical Alchemy. I'll definitely have to study it properly in the future."

In less than twenty minutes, the Magical Car stopped outside King's Cross Station. George declined Tonks's kind offer to see him inside, and as he pushed his trolley along, he thought to himself.

In truth, the road from the Leaky Cauldron to King's Cross Station had not been all that smooth. They had run right into traffic.

But the Ministry of Magic's car had clearly also been enchanted with advanced spatial magic through alchemy. Aldo merely pressed a button, and the car seemed to compress, easily slipping through gaps between vehicles that were not even wide enough for one person.

The spells in this world were miraculous, and the various magical items made through alchemy were just as miraculous.

If he mastered Magical Alchemy, then in the future, he could completely transform the Mutant School into a wondrous magical castle similar to Hogwarts. Without his permission, ordinary people would never be able to break in.

"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."

Arriving at the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, George pushed his trolley straight into it.

Then something magical happened. He and the trolley seemed to hit a transparent curtain of water, and passed through without the slightest obstruction.

The scene changed, and a very special platform had already appeared before his eyes.

The most eye-catching thing there was the deep red steam engine, with the words written on it: Hogwarts Express, departing at eleven o'clock.

As for this magical train, he had already read relevant introductions in specialized Magical History books.

If he wanted to gain a deep understanding of this world's magic and move through the wizarding world with ease in the future, then mastering knowledge of Magical History was also of utmost importance.

The methods for learning and breaking many spells could actually be found in Magical History as well.

So every day, he would also spend a certain amount of time studying the various history books he had bought.

The Hogwarts Express was built in the early to mid-nineteenth century, jointly constructed by a Muggle engineer, a large number of Muggle railway workers, and most of the wizards in the Ministry of Magic at the time.

This magical train route also involved the largest number of Memory Charms ever used in the world, as well as the largest-scale Muggle-Repelling Charm.

It all began because the very responsible Minister of Magic at the time, Ottoline Gambol, felt that it was too unsafe and uncomfortable for young wizards to travel to Hogwarts by Portkey. Every year, young wizards went missing because of improper use of Portkeys.

Then, inspired by Muggle steam trains, the Hogwarts Express and its extremely long railway route came into being.

It was said that this measure drew protests from some pure-blood families, but the Minister of Magic forcefully suppressed them with the threat that anyone who did not take the train would not be admitted by Hogwarts.

This magical steam train traveled between Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station in London and Hogsmeade Station, making six trips in total each year.

Once for the start of school on September first, four times for Christmas and Easter, and once for the June holidays.

At this moment, the thick smoke from the steam engine filled the air above the platform. Because George had arrived relatively early, there were not many young wizards or wizarding parents seeing them off on the platform yet, and it was not noisy either.

Pushing his trolley into the carriage marked First Year, he casually found a compartment, deftly stuffed his luggage onto the rack above, then placed the cage containing his owl in the corner of the compartment nearest to himself.

"Sleep properly. Don't hoot randomly and scare the young wizards who come in later."

After giving Peachy that instruction, George took out a copy of The Importance of Basic Magical Theory and began reading with focus.

It would take about five or six hours to get from London to Hogwarts. He could not just waste that time.

As time passed, more and more wizards, young and old, appeared on the platform outside the window, along with all kinds of magical pets. Young wizards also gradually began entering the carriages.

"Wow, is that your pet? What a huge owl."

A little boy with a Magical Camera hanging around his neck was pushing his own trolley past George's compartment when he was drawn in by the enormous owl, Peachy, and walked in involuntarily.

He put his luggage in the corner, picked up his Magical Camera, excitedly took several photos, then introduced himself to George.

"Hello, my name is Colin Creevey."

"Just call me George."

George looked up at the boy, smiled, and nodded.

The name sounded somewhat familiar to him. He seemed to be a fanatical fan of Harry's, and loved taking photos of his idol Harry most of all.

"George, I..."

Colin had a lively personality and was quite the chatterbox. Acting as though they were already old friends, he sat down beside George and immediately began babbling away.

At this point, George had no choice but to put away his magic book and chat with him for a bit.

Through their conversation, he learned that Colin was born into a Muggle family and had a younger brother at home named Dennis Creevey.

Because he especially loved photography, after seeing the miraculous magical camera in Diagon Alley, he had used the money meant for buying a pet to buy a Magical Camera instead.

The idol he admired most was Harry Potter, who was mentioned in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of Dark Arts, and Significant Magical Events of the Twentieth Century. Harry was only one year older than him, yet had defeated Voldemort, who had once struck terror into the entire wizarding world.

"Oh right, George, I've said so much, but you still haven't told me about yourself."

After chattering away for a while, Colin finally realized that he knew nothing about George at all.

To avoid letting the rambling continue, George simply smiled and said, "I'm an orphan. I've never met my parents, and I don't have any family, so there isn't much to introduce."

Colin was immediately stunned when he heard this. Then a sympathetic look appeared on his face, and he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Oh right, your owl is so big. What does it usually eat?"

"Eagle Owl. It usually appears more often in Eurasia and Africa, mainly inhabiting mountain forests, plains, wilderness, forest-edge thickets, sparse woods, as well as exposed alpine areas and cliffs.

It likes eating field mice, wild rabbits, and pheasant-like creatures. Sometimes it also eats frogs, snakes, lizards, and the like.

It's said to be one of the few owl species that can fearlessly withstand a Basilisk's gaze. The other is the legendary Phoenix."

Just then, a somewhat dazed voice suddenly sounded from the compartment doorway.

George and Colin turned to look. It was a little girl with silver eyes and dark golden-brown hair. Her skin was very fair, her eyes large, but her gaze was unfocused.

So her overall air seemed a little drifting and vague, with a strange, eccentric feel to it.

"Eagle Owls can face a Basilisk's gaze without fear? I don't think I've seen anything about that in the books."

George looked at the girl in some surprise and asked.

Since he had bought an Eagle Owl as a pet, how could he possibly not have looked up the relevant information? Most of what the girl had just said, he had read in the materials. Only the final point was something he had never seen.

However, whether that final point was true was extremely important, because this year, a Basilisk really would appear at Hogwarts—and an ancient one, a thousand years old at that.

So he had no choice but to verify it carefully.