Andy: I Think I've Met My Match

In the last few days before school started, Andy stopped practicing magic and spent his time with his family instead, taking Isabel out for two days of wild fun.

September 1st.

As usual, Andy slept in, only to be woken by Helen's furious voice and then forcibly dragged out of bed by little Isabel.

Still in his pajamas, Andy shuffled downstairs and greeted his family sleepily. "Morning."

"Andy, this won't do."

Kyle had already finished breakfast. "If you keep sleeping in at Hogwarts, you'll be late for class."

Andy sat down at the table in a daze and patted his cheeks to wake himself up a little. "Don't worry. I brought an alarm clock."

Sleeping in had been Andy's dream in his previous life, and a habit in this one.

"If he's late for class, that's his own problem. The professors will straighten him out." Helen spoke irritably. If there was one thing about her son that dissatisfied her, it was probably his habit of sleeping in.

After breakfast, Andy took a shower and changed into clean clothes.

His luggage had been packed the night before. After checking that he had not forgotten anything, Andy dragged his suitcase downstairs with a clatter into the living room.

Kyle was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper. He had taken the morning off work today.

This was Andy's first day of school, and he did not want to miss such an important moment.

"Wasn't Gringotts robbed? It's been so long, and The Daily Prophet still hasn't reported it." Andy glanced at the paper, then lost interest and leaned back against the sofa.

Rustle!

Kyle turned a page and said in the tone of someone who had been there before, "Kid, that's the power of Galleons."

Cornelius Fudge had only become Minister of Magic last year. Everyone in the Wizarding World knew that he had risen to the position through Dumbledore's support, that he was Dumbledore's yes-man.

And this was the result?

Was this Dumbledore's own intention, or had he simply misjudged the man?

Thinking of a certain Defense Against the Dark Arts Class professor, Andy suddenly realized that Dumbledore might very well have dementia.

After all, he was already over a hundred years old.

The legal retirement age in the Muggle World was sixty, yet Dumbledore was over a hundred and still insisted on working. What kind of perseverance was that? After dawdling at home until after ten, the family of four took the Knight Bus to King's Cross Station.

The Knight Bus was an incredible experience. It could take you anywhere you wanted to go, crossing mountains and fields as though traveling over flat ground, and it was even more thrilling than a roller coaster.

It was Andy and Isabel's favorite ride.

At this hour, the station was packed with people coming and going. Andy and his family made their way to a wall between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"Let's go, sweetheart."

Helen took Isabel's hand. After Andy and Kyle passed through the wall, she led the little girl through as well.

The two sides of a single wall were two entirely different worlds. People from the other world might never imagine that a group of magical wizards lived alongside them in this one.

The Hogwarts Express was a dark red Victorian-era steam train, and it looked thoroughly antique.

Andy simply could not connect this train with the word "Express."

Was it even faster than one of those old green trains?

Never mind a high-speed rail train.

The platform was crowded with parents seeing their children off to school. They wore all sorts of strange and eccentric outfits, making them look rather odd.

Some Little Wizards had brought pets with them. Andy noticed one round-faced Little Wizard who kept a toad as a pet.

Good heavens! Could anyone really pet something like that?

"Hurry and get on. There should still be plenty of empty compartments at this hour."

Helen spoke reluctantly. "Remember to write to us when you get to school."

"Got it! Goodbye, Dad, Mom, and Isa. See you at Christmas."

Andy waved goodbye to his family and lightly flicked his wand at the suitcase.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

The suitcase floated up and followed behind Andy as he boarded the train, walked down the corridor, and found an empty compartment.

After putting away his suitcase, Andy opened the compartment window for one last farewell with his family.

"You should head back. I'm going to sleep a little more. I got up far too early this morning." Andy waved.

"How much longer are you planning to sleep? Do you want us to wait for you on empty stomachs?" Helen said irritably.

"All right, all right!"

Kyle chuckled. "We'll head back first, then. See you at Christmas."

"Goodbye, Andy."

Isabel looked at Andy with great reluctance, her tone fierce as she said, "Make sure you write to me when you get to school!"

"Got it! I'll definitely write to you."

After his family left, Andy closed the window and shut his eyes for a brief rest.

Rustle!

The compartment door slid open, and a brown-haired girl stood in the doorway with a large trunk in hand.

"Can I sit here?"

The brown-haired girl lifted her chin. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger. And you are?"

Andy: "..."

"Please, have a seat. I'm the only one here. Oh! I nearly forgot to introduce myself. I'm Andy, Andy Collins," Andy said.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Collins." Hermione nodded and carried her trunk into the compartment.

"Just call me Andy."

Hermione's trunk was enormous. Seeing how hard she was struggling with it, Andy pulled out his wand and softly recited the spell.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

This was perhaps the greatest gain Andy had made after more than a month of relentless magical practice—whenever he encountered a problem, his first instinct was always to pull out his wand and solve it.

It was a very good habit, and Andy decided to keep it up.

"That was a lovely Levitation Charm. Thank you. You can call me Hermione too."

Hermione sat across from Andy, lifting her chin with the pride of a white swan. "Are you a First Year student too?"

Andy looked up, about to answer.

But Hermione continued in a rapid-fire rush, "I tried a few simple spells at home too, just for practice, and they all worked."

"No one in my family knows anything about magic, so when I received my acceptance letter, I was absolutely shocked—but also terribly happy... I've memorized all the textbooks, of course. I only hope it'll be useful..."

Andy did not pay much attention to what Hermione said after that. The moment he heard, "I've memorized all the textbooks," he knew he had met a rival.

So the novel Hermione Granger and Her Two Useless Men was real?

Andy had read the textbooks. Forget memorizing an entire book—he found even memorizing a single passage difficult.

"You're really amazing."

Andy said sincerely, "I can't do that. I simply can't memorize those textbooks, so all I can do is practice magic. I've practiced every spell thousands of times. Of course, I only hope it'll be useful too."