Hermione sighed helplessly. She usually never lacked spending money.
So she and Brook had always been lavish when it came to spending.
But this time, they had exchanged only a limited number of Gold Galleons. It was always better to have a little more to spare.
Sigh...
It seemed she could only spend more carefully.
If Brook needed it, she could support him a little too.
In the end, Brook paid one Gold Galleon, seven Silver Sickles, and five Bronze Knuts.
He had practically cleared out all the food on the trolley.
The empty seats beside them were suddenly piled full.
Brook was honestly speechless.
Although he had bought things in Diagon Alley, there had been few varieties, so the calculations had been simple.
He had never paid attention to the exchange rates of those coins.
He had always assumed it was a standard ten-to-one ratio.
Not until that witch had painstakingly calculated it with a pen.
Only then did he notice.
One Gold Galleon equaled seventeen Silver Sickles.
One Silver Sickle equaled twenty-nine Bronze Knuts.
That was absolutely ridiculous.
Who knew which "genius" had come up with that exchange rate?
Snacks were always the best way to distract children.
Even a clever child like Hermione was no exception.
As Hermione ate her snacks, the smile on her face grew noticeably brighter.
Especially when she saw Brook eat a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean that tasted like herring and make a disgusted face.
That made her laugh even harder.
Just as she caught a Chocolate Frog and hesitated over whether to eat it.
The compartment door was pushed open again.
A round-faced little boy appeared before them.
His voice was very soft. "Excuse me, have you seen my toad?"
Hermione shook her head slightly.
The tears in the boy's eyes grew thicker. "I lost it again! It always tries to run away from me!"
"What's your name?"
"N-Neville Longbottom."
Hermione stood up. "I'm Hermione Granger. He's Brook Lott. We'll help you look."
"Really?" Neville's face lit up with surprise.
Hermione nodded seriously.
"Thank you, thank you," Neville said hurriedly.
Then they walked out of the compartment.
"You're not coming?" Hermione poked her head back into the compartment from outside and looked at Brook.
Brook stood up helplessly.
Besides liking to lecture people, Hermione had another hidden trait—she loved meddling in other people's business.
He had kept quiet just now, hoping Hermione would temporarily forget about him.
Unfortunately, it had not worked.
He could only follow behind Hermione and leave the compartment.
Following her as she searched one compartment after another.
Each time, Hermione would knock first, then ask, "Have you seen a lost toad?"
The answer was always, "No."
Yet she tirelessly repeated the process.
Until they reached the middle of the train.
They suddenly heard a scream ahead, along with someone wildly waving their arms.
Hermione hurried over, only to discover that the short, chubby boy who had screamed earlier was already gone.
She looked down at the snacks scattered across the floor. "What happened?"
"Nothing." A red-haired boy was carefully examining the rat in his hands as he replied impatiently.
"Did you get into a fight? Causing—"
Brook appeared beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from continuing.
As the saying went, one should not be arrogant, but one must have pride.
One who did not flaunt oneself would be truly clear;
One who did not insist on being right would be truly distinguished;
One who did not boast would achieve merit, and one who did not pride oneself would endure.
Hermione's lofty, lecturing tone could easily make others dislike her.
"Sorry, we're looking for a lost toad. Have you seen it?"
Brook's height clearly put some pressure on the red-haired boy.
He answered stiffly, "No."
"Alright, thank you."
He pulled out his wand and gave it a light wave. All the snacks on the floor flew onto the seats.
"Thank you," said the messy-haired boy with glasses.
Brook smiled faintly and gently nudged Hermione. "Let's go."
"Okay." Hermione pouted as she walked ahead.
She knew that she could sometimes be too blunt, which might annoy people.
Ever since she had become friends with Brook, they had made an agreement.
If she said something inappropriate, Brook could stop her at any time.
At the same time, a system notification rang out in Brook's mind.
[Congratulations to the host for making contact with the entire Golden Trio. Reward: one draw.]
Only then did he realize that those two were Harry and Ron!
They did not finish searching the train.
Because an announcement rang out that the train was about to arrive at Hogwarts.
They hurried back to their compartment and changed into their Wizard Robes.
The night air was somewhat cold, and Hermione could not help shivering.
Brook directly placed the woolen hat he had prepared onto Hermione's head.
He did not feel cold at all.
Asgardian Power not only enhanced his physical abilities and lifespan, but also allowed him to adapt to all kinds of environments.
No matter the weather, he would only feel comfortable.
"Wow, he's so tall," Hermione exclaimed.
Brook also looked at the giant man guiding the first-year students.
At over three meters tall, he was like a bear.
He knew that was Hagrid.
As long as a character had a distinctive trait, they were easy to remember.
Dumbledore's defining feature was his nearly one-meter-long white beard.
Hagrid's was his height.
They followed Hagrid down a dark, steep, narrow path.
At the end of the path was a lake, with many small boats moored along the shore.
On the hillside across the lake, Hogwarts Castle stood tall and majestic.
No boat could carry more than four people.
So Brook and Hermione shared one with two unfamiliar new students.
The boat automatically sailed toward the castle.
Hermione was clearly nervous. She tightly held Brook's hand, unconsciously squeezing harder.
The boat sped across the lake, and before long, they arrived at the shore beneath the castle.
Led by a witch in emerald-green robes, they entered the gates of Hogwarts.
The witch brought them to the doors of the castle hall and began addressing them.
At the same time, another system notification sounded in Brook's mind.
[Congratulations to the host for entering Hogwarts. Reward: one draw.] [Congratulations to the host for making first contact with Minerva McGonagall. Reward: one draw.]
He felt that this system was rather discriminatory sometimes.
There were so many professors at Hogwarts.
Yet the system's tasks concerning McGonagall and Snape were practically becoming a whole series.
The tasks involving other professors, however, were few and far between. Some did not even have any at all.
For example, Dumbledore, the headmaster, did not have a single task related to him.
He had no presence at all.
What Brook did not know was that it was not that the system had no tasks related to Dumbledore.
It was simply that those tasks did not name him directly.
For example, [Seize the Elder Wand] was related to Dumbledore.
Because the Elder Wand was in Dumbledore's possession.
(Hagrid was 11.5 feet tall. To make the numbers easier for readers to calculate, I will directly use common units such as kilograms and meters instead of ounces, feet, and so on.)
Before you continue