Bouncing's Ability

Bouncing ambushed the Gray Mouse while it was asleep.

But its little paws lacked strength, so it did not cause much harm.

Seeing the Gray Mouse preparing to fight back, Luan swiftly grabbed Bouncing and pulled it away.

"Sorry, I don't know why it did that."

Luan hid Bouncing behind his back and looked sincerely at the frightened, angry Ron.

"Scabbers is already very old, you—"

Harry was also quite surprised that the two pets had started fighting the moment they met. But seeing that the Gray Mouse was not seriously hurt, he spoke up to smooth things over.

"Ron, I don't think Luan told it to do that, did he?"

Ron helplessly put Scabbers back into his pocket and sat down again, sulking.

"All right, Ron, weren't you going to hear about the scar? According to Hagrid, it was Voldemort."

"Wait, you said that person's name!"

The two across from him began discussing the Dark Lord again. Luan wanted to listen too, but he had something more important to deal with right now.

Looking at Bouncing in his hand, still fuming and eager for another fight, Luan bent down and gave it a stern look.

"Why were you picking on an elderly rat? Look at it, it's so old it's practically losing its fur."

Luan spoke very softly. The rumble of the train and the excited discussion across from him covered everything.

"Squeak!"

"How could that be? It's so old all it does is sleep. It couldn't possibly do anything bad."

"Squeak~"

"All right, but you don't have any proof, do you?"

Seeing the sincerity in Luan's eyes, Bouncing helplessly turned away and sat on the leather seat. It even dodged Luan's fingers when he reached over to pet it.

Luan helplessly raised his head, only to find the two boys across from him staring at him without blinking.

"Were you just talking to Bouncing?" Harry asked in astonishment.

"That's right. It did something wrong, so I was scolding it."

"You understand animal language?" Ron looked at Luan in surprise as well.

"I don't. It's Bouncing—it's very smart and always understands what I mean."

Hearing this, the two of them unconsciously stood up and peered across the little table at Bouncing, which was sitting there sulking.

"It's not entirely its fault. Maybe Scabbers appeared too suddenly and startled it."

Seeing how angry Bouncing looked, Ron suddenly felt a little embarrassed and explained himself.

"Squeak!"

"What did it say?"

When Bouncing turned its head and let out a crisp squeak, Ron looked curiously at Luan.

"It said no, and thank you for understanding. It really was startled."

"Oh, it's really smart! Isn't it, Harry?"

At Luan's explanation, Bouncing turned and looked at him in confusion, as though accusing Luan of twisting its words.

Seeing that Luan was no longer paying attention to it and had instead joined the discussion with the two boys across from him, Bouncing angrily returned to Luan's pocket and even pulled the zipper shut behind itself.

As they chatted, Luan discovered that Ron knew a great deal about the wizarding world. The Ministry of Magic, Quidditch, Goblins, Hogwarts' four houses—he knew all about them.

Luan also learned Harry's identity: The Boy Who Lived, the Dark Lord's destined nemesis.

Seeing Ron's astonished expression whenever he talked about Harry, Luan realized that Harry did not seem to like this fame very much.

The three of them chatted all the way until lunchtime. Harry had always wanted to thank Luan for the gift, so Luan got another free meal on the train.

He also got a bite of Ron's sandwich. The corned beef tasted delicious.

After collecting a Merlin Chocolate Frog Card and eating three flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Luan felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

Last night, he had stayed up until the middle of the night reading magic books out of curiosity, then gone to the zoo early in the morning. In total, he had only slept two hours.

But just as he was about to cover himself with his clothes and sleep, a sniffling boy knocked on the compartment door.

"Sorry, may I ask if you've seen my toad?"

Luan was just about to take a nap and did not respond. Harry and Ron, however, answered that they had not.

The boy left, and Harry and Ron's voices across from him gradually quieted down as well.

The train's droning rumble really was good for sleeping, and Luan's mind quickly drifted off.

But he still failed to fall asleep this time. The compartment door opened again, and a loud little girl's voice came from outside.

"Have you seen Neville's toad?"

Luan was completely awake now. He felt that if this toad was not found, he might never get to sleep.

Vigorously rubbing his face, Luan looked at the girl standing in the doorway.

She had thick, curly brown hair, a delicate, fair face, and bright, lively eyes.

After asking her question, the little girl was drawn to Ron's wand. From their conversation, Luan learned that she was also a first-year student.

But this little girl was very unusual. Luan noticed that the bar above her head actually had half a segment filled.

This was different from him, Harry, Ron, and Neville, who was standing outside the door. Their bars were all blank.

"Is there something on my head?"

After rather proudly saying that she had already read all the textbooks, the little girl introduced herself as Hermione Granger, then noticed Luan's gaze.

"Nothing. You're looking for the toad, right?"

"Yes, Neville lost one. Can you do anything?"

"I might be able to try."

As he spoke, Luan opened his shirt pocket and took out Bouncing.

But the little fellow was still angry with him. Its eyes remained shut as it curled up in Luan's palm.

"Bouncing, help out. One Silver Sickle."

"What is that? It's so cute! Can it find a toad?"

Seeing Luan speaking to the little black ball in his hand, Hermione curiously leaned closer.

"It should be able to. Bouncing has a very sharp nose and keen eyes, but I made it angry just now."

"Really? Then how can you coax it?"

Everyone around them looked over as Luan spoke to Bouncing in his palm again.

"One. Galleon."

Bouncing's eyelids twitched.

"Two. Coins."

As Luan spoke, Bouncing's eyelids trembled as it tried to open them, but it kept waiting for the last three words.

"All right, two Galleons."

Bouncing woke up completely, gave a cheerful squeak, and jumped straight up.

Then it stretched out its little paw.

Luan helplessly took two gleaming gold coins from his pocket. Bouncing's tiny eyes practically sparkled. After admiring them for a while, it stuffed them directly into the little pouch on its belly.

"All right, can you let it smell the toad's scent?" Luan looked at Neville, who stood dazed in the doorway.

"My... my hand, maybe? I was holding Trevor the whole time just now."

"You can lose it while holding it?" Ron asked curiously.

Neville's face turned even redder.

Luan said nothing and gestured for the boy to hold out his hand.

Bouncing extended its long nose and lightly sniffed Neville's hand, then leaped down from Luan's palm and ran out of the compartment.

"Come on, hurry and follow it!"

Luan, Hermione, and Neville ran after it, while Ron and Harry remained in the compartment.

"Bouncing is amazing." Ron spoke as he looked somewhat gloomily at Scabbers, who was curled up asleep on his lap.

"But Harry, did you see that? Luan just gave his pet two Galleons. Those were Galleons!"

"Oh, Luan probably earned them himself. He sells wood carvings outside the zoo."

Harry actually wanted to go out too, but Hermione had just reminded them that they needed to change into their robes, so neither of them went.

"Luan earns his own money? That's amazing!"

Ron sighed in admiration, then said dejectedly, "Mum never lets us go to Diagon Alley alone, otherwise I could earn some money too."

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