9 and 3/4 Platform

Chapter 11: Platform 9¾

Romanova arrived in England even before Brook did.

She had finally learned Brook's real name and what he actually looked like.

When she found out Brook was only eleven years old, her mouth gaped wide enough to fit two ears of corn.

Still, that put her much more at ease.

After all, no matter how cynical an eleven-year-old might be, they weren't about to destroy the world.

On top of that, she was incredibly curious about Brook's makeup skills.

If she and Brook weren't still relative strangers, she would have pestered him for lessons long ago.

Brook had set up an offshore investment company overseas.

His instructions to Romanova were very clear.

Focus on the real estate market and stock market of the Footpan region, especially automotive stocks and Sony.

As for more specific investment details, he couldn't help her there.

He had dabbled in stocks in his past life, but the earliest hot stock he knew about was Amazon in 1997.

Everything else came after the millennium.

There was still plenty of time.

So for now, he could only have Romanova keep an eye on Footpan.

Footpan had just gone through the collapse of its real estate bubble, and the entire market was at a historic low.

Investing in real estate, automotive stocks, and Sony was a surefire moneymaker.

After cycling those funds through the stock market once, his money would be clean enough to see the light of day.

By 2000, he planned to take those funds to the United States and leverage them a hundred times over.

That should be enough for him to squander for five thousand years.

Hermione was very happy that Brook had returned safely.

She went to his house every day, knocked on the door, then pressed her face to the window to see if anyone was inside.

To celebrate Brook's return, she invited him to the Granger house for dinner again.

But this time, Mr. Granger didn't drink, which disappointed Brook greatly.

Time flew by, and soon it was September first.

The day Hogwarts started.

At ten in the morning, Brook and Hermione were dropped off at King's Cross Station by the Granger parents.

There was still an hour before the train departed, more than enough time.

"Hermione, is that pillar Platform 9¾?"

Mr. Granger pointed at the stone pillar between Platforms 9 and 10 and asked in a low voice.

"Headmaster Dumbledore said you just run straight into the pillar, but you two won't be able to get through."

Hermione tugged her luggage, her voice a little shaky.

After all, who would be crazy enough to ram into a stone pillar!

Mr. Granger felt terrible.

If he hadn't been explicitly told he couldn't go through, he would have wanted to try crashing into the pillar himself.

Mrs. Granger also looked worried.

Even though they had already heard Hermione talk about this special platform before.

Now that the moment had actually come, they still didn't want to let Hermione try it so easily.

Hermione gritted her teeth and was about to make a run for it.

Brook patted her on the shoulder.

"Let me go first."

The Granger parents immediately shot him grateful looks, but then felt a bit awkward.

Mr. Granger suggested, "Maybe we should wait a little longer. Since it's a school train, there must be older students coming. We can ask them for advice."

"I'll give it a try first. Dumbledore probably wouldn't lie to us."

Brook pulled his suitcase and walked toward the pillar.

It was only because he had arrived early.

If he had seen the army of students slamming into the wall like a stampede, he would have definitely exclaimed that it was a classic Ubisoft feature.

Then his vision blurred for a moment before clearing again.

He saw a deep red, old-fashioned steam locomotive numbered 9527.

It was parked beside the platform, puffing out white steam with a chugging sound.

A sign hung on the train: "Hogwarts Express, Eleven o'clock."

And the place he had just passed through had turned into an arched doorway.

It read: Platform 9¾.

Brook didn't hesitate and ran straight back.

"I tried it, it's safe."

Mr. Granger patted Brook on the shoulder, his eyes full of gratitude.

Then, Hermione said goodbye to her parents and walked with Brook toward Platform 9¾.

"Let's find a compartment to sit in?" Hermione suggested.

Brook nodded. "Let's go to the last one. Few people will bother us there."

They sat down in the last empty compartment.

As soon as Hermione sat down, her little mouth started chattering again.

"We're about to go learn magic—just thinking about it gets me so excited o(≧v≦)o~~"

"Mm-hmm."

"Aren't you excited? I couldn't sleep at all last night."

"Mm-hmm, excited." Brook continued to brush her off.

"Which house do you think we'll be sorted into?"

"You? Ravenclaw, probably."

Hermione looked at him with some confusion.

"Didn't Dumbledore mention the traits of the four houses? You love studying so much, so you're definitely Ravenclaw."

"Then you must be Ravenclaw too—you're even smarter than me."

"No, I want to go to Hufflepuff."

"Can you choose that yourself?"

"I don't know, but if you have a special request, I think it should be considered."

Brook really did plan to go to Hufflepuff.

He vaguely remembered a post he'd read.

It said Hufflepuffs were all "foodies."

Finding a few cooks in Hufflepuff to whip up some good food wasn't too much to ask, right?

As for British cuisine.

He could sum it up in one line: Baked Potatoes, French Fries, Mashed Potatoes.

As for whether he could actually get into Hufflepuff.

He still knew about the Sorting Hat.

That thing, when placed on your head, probably pries into a young witch or wizard's thoughts or memories.

Finding a classification that matched the traits of the four houses.

He had Occlumency—how could the Sorting Hat still see?

Wherever he wanted to go, it was up to him.

Hermione suddenly said, "Actually, I want to go to Gryffindor."

"[・_・?]" Brook looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Hermione explained, "I read Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Twentieth Century Important Magical Events. Headmaster Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of this era, and he came from Gryffindor, so I want to go there."

Brook shrugged. He wasn't surprised by Hermione's choice.

Not to mention that in the original story, Hermione went to Gryffindor.

Just her hero-worshipping personality alone meant she was never going to be someone who stayed out of trouble.

"Follow your heart."

Hermione was a bit conflicted. She really wanted to go to the same house as Brook, but...

Even though she was holding a book, she couldn't turn to the next page.

Brook, meanwhile, started flipping through Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

He wasn't interested in things like rats or owls.

But those large magical creatures—he had ideas about them.

Especially the Zouwu mentioned in the book.

It perfectly matched all his aesthetic preferences—big and great to pet.

Too bad there were no beast-eared girls.

The silence between the two didn't last long.

A smiling witch with dimples pushed open the compartment door.

"Dear, would you like any snacks?"

Hermione was also curious about the food in the Magical World.

"Give me two of each!"

The witch was about to fetch them when Brook added.

"Except for two pies and two cakes, give us everything else!"

The smile on the witch's face grew even brighter.

"Brook, we can't eat this much."

"It's fine, they're just little snacks. We can save them and eat slowly."

"Let's just forget it. We should save some Gold Galleons."

"Don't worry, it's okay."

(The actual number of the Hogwarts Express is 5972. As for why the Little Author wrote 9527, those who know, know.)