The Hogwarts Express

The so-called chosen one always gets what they need just when they need it.

Just then, someone had discarded a bicycle. Cypher was overjoyed and rode it home. (Laughs)

Only a few days remained until the start of school.

On the night of the shopping trip, Cypher hurriedly wrote a letter and had his Snowy Owl—Little White—deliver it to Iris at Hogwarts.

The letter contained only simple greetings and news of his safe arrival home.

It was several days later when Little White returned, accompanied by a beautiful Tawny Owl.

After reading Iris's reply, Cypher wrote another letter, expressing his eagerness to meet Iris and his anticipation for the start of school.

He then had the Tawny Owl, named Cinderella, deliver the letter to Iris.

He figured they'd meet before the next letter could arrive.

This method of communication is far too inconvenient, Cypher sighed inwardly.

Though only a few short days remained until school began, That was enough time for Cypher to preview the textbooks.

Astronomy and Divination left Cypher completely baffled.

For several nights in a row, he studied the stars against the textbook explanations, but came up with nothing.

Helpless, he decided to wait for the professor's guidance.

Potions required hands-on practice.

Staring at the occasional "a pinch" or "a dash" in the textbook, Cypher's scalp crawled.

Worst of all! The illustrations in the textbook were visibly different from the weights he had purchased!

Helpless, he gave up!

Thus, only the textbooks on Charms, Dark Arts, and Transfiguration allowed him to study ahead—roughly.

The explanations in those were far too vague.

Cypher followed the steps to cast spells one by one.

Through repeated practice, he discovered

that every spell incantation, when cast multiple times for comparison, showed that even a slight deviation in movement or a tiny difference in syllable pitch caused the wand to draw varying amounts of his own magic.

Naturally, the resulting magical effects were also inconsistent.

After a rough understanding from his experiments, Cypher dared not practice further. Without sufficient theoretical support for exploration, he feared he might go astray.

"The theory will come. Once I enroll at Hogwarts and get into the library, everything will be fine."

Cypher comforted himself optimistically.

Since he had temporarily given up deep magical study, he decided to stick to daily physical exercise.

Cypher believed that a strong body was necessary to support his mind's thinking. Magic was the programming and software, and the body was naturally the hardware. As long as life continued, so would his training.

Planned and disciplined days always passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, tomorrow was the first day of school.

Before dawn, Cypher, lying in bed, suddenly woke with a start.

The sky outside the window was still dim.

Seeing this, Cypher breathed a sigh of relief and flopped back onto his pillow.

"If it weren't for the chaos in these times, I'd have already moved into the Leaky Cauldron to wait for school to start."

After grumbling, Cypher got up to prepare the last breakfast before school at the orphanage.

What warmed his heart was that Madam Mary also rose early to cook and eat with him.

Finally, at the orphanage gate, she straightened his clothes and watched him disappear at the end of the street.

The road conditions were terrible, and on top of that, he wasn't familiar with the route to the station.

Setting out under the morning sun, Cypher stumbled and staggered his way to King's Cross Station only when the sun was nearly high in the sky.

"I should have come into the city earlier to scout the route!"

Cypher lamented inwardly.

Enduring the strange looks from the crowd, with Little White perched on his shoulder, Cypher found no one else like him.

In other words, either wizards don't send their children to school from here, or Cypher was late.

Clearly, the latter was far more likely.

"Damn it!"

He glanced at the large clock embedded in the center of the wall.

"Ten forty-five!" Only fifteen minutes remained until the eleven o'clock departure.

Cypher quickly asked the guard beside him, who had long been staring at Little White perched on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir! Could you tell me where Platform Nine is?"

After receiving the guard's directions, the enthusiastic guard even offered to personally lead the way.

Cypher hurriedly thanked him and waved his hand, saying it wasn't necessary.

He couldn't let this kind-hearted guard take an Obliviate for nothing.

Rushing over to the area between Platforms Nine and Ten.

Hurrying Muggles paid no attention to the red-haired man there, who was waving his wand and twisting his body in strange motions.

At this, Cypher breathed another sigh of relief—he hadn't gotten the location wrong.

"Hello, Auror sir, is this the entrance to Hogwarts?"

"Huh? Yes, a new student?! Oh! Goodness! I was just about to seal this off—hurry in, young man!"

Red hair, and that approachable attitude toward others—Cypher couldn't help but wonder if this was a member of the Weasley family.

But he had no time to stop and exchange pleasantries. Flashing a grateful smile and thanking the Auror, he lifted his foot as if to step into the entrance.

Smoothly entering the platform, there were still a few scattered parents and Young Wizards who hadn't boarded the train yet.

A crackling sound nearby drew Cypher's attention.

It turned out to be parents Apparating away in a designated area in the distance. As for Muggles, without a wizard to guide them, they couldn't get in at all!

No wonder they were already closing the entrance before the train had even departed.

Just as Cypher was feeling a bit lost, unsure which carriage to board.

Little White, perched on his shoulder, suddenly spread its wings and flew off beside him.

Following its direction, a target instantly formed in Cypher's heart.

There, at the end of his line of sight.

Iris was leaning half her body out, waving to signal him.

A Blue Princess Dress, a Blue Round Hat, with a golden-red feather stuck in it. (Fawkes's screech)

Silver hair draped over her shoulders, fair skin, and a bright, radiant smile on her face.

Cypher was infected by her mood. He waved his arm and jogged over.

The Hogwarts Express had already let out a whistle before departure.

After taking a few steps into the carriage, Cypher's steps wobbled slightly as the train began to move.

Cypher steadied his breathing—he didn't want to meet Iris while panting heavily.

He pulled open the door leading to the corridor.

He didn't have to trouble himself looking for a compartment.

It seemed that after confirming he had entered the carriage.

Iris had come to the compartment door to meet him.

"Iris, long time no see."

"Long time no see!"

Iris was more excited than Cypher had imagined.

She stepped forward in her little white leather shoes and gave Cypher a light hug.

"Come on, there are only the three of us in the compartment."

Letting go, Iris broke the silence first. Her blue eyes, which seemed to hold starlight when she smiled, fixed on Cypher as she spoke softly.

Three people? Oh, right! Iris had mentioned that she and her best friend had looked out for each other since childhood.

In the carriage, that must be her best friend, right?

As Cypher walked into the compartment and casually closed the door behind him.

Another pretty girl filled his vision.

Her outfit was nearly identical to Iris's.

But her hat was purple, and of course, there was a tail feather stuck in it (scream ×2), and her leather shoes and stockings were purple.

She also wore purple gloves on her hands.

Her hair was yellow, and her eyes were blue.

Seeing Iris bring Cypher into the private room, she rose and stepped forward, extending her hand.

Poised and clear-voiced, she spoke.

"Hello, Cypher Corvin. My name is Luna Freya Hill. Just call me Luna, like Iris does!"

"Uh, okay! Hello, Luna!"

Caught off guard by having his name called out directly, Cypher nearly fumbled over how to introduce himself!