"Hello, my name is..."
The first person to squeeze in had barely begun introducing himself before a second student's cheer drowned him out. "There's a seat here!"
He practically charged inside, unable to contain the smile on his face.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Seamus Finnigan."
"Hello." Andrew introduced himself as well, and the first boy finally finished his introduction. His name was Kevin Bader.
"Room for one more..." Seamus said quickly. "So many compartments are full. I didn't expect... the train's packed..."
"Of course. All the Hogwarts students take the train to school. The older students sit with people they know, so they generally won't join us."
"Ah, right. I should have thought of that."
Seamus bustled about. "Mostly, I was just too excited. I've wanted to go to Hogwarts since I was little, but Mum always told me I had to wait until I was eleven... goodness, I've forgotten how I even managed to wait all those years!"
"It's not certain yet. There's still the legendary Sorting."
Kevin rested his hands on the little table, his expression mild.
"Oh, the Sorting..."
"Goodness..."
The smile vanished from Seamus's face...
"I've asked loads of people, but nobody will tell me how the Sorting works. Or rather, none of the people willing to talk about it ever give a definite answer..."
"If I don't get Sorted and they just kick me out... what will Mum say..."
"Don't worry. From the sound of it, your mum loves you very much. She'll be sure to cook you a whole table of delicious food to cheer you up."
Kevin spoke as though he were offering comfort.
"Oh, absolutely not!"
"She was so happy when I showed signs of magic. If I get kicked out..."
Andrew, who hadn't even managed to get a word in, could barely control his expression...
Where had this little rascal called Kevin come from? It certainly fit Hogwarts's persistent refusal to reveal the secret of the Sorting, but this was taking the deception a bit too far.
In the spirit of being kind to others, he decided not to comment. If he didn't expose the trick, a fight afterward might mark the beginning of a friendship, but if he did, all that would remain was resentment between two people stuck together for the time being.
Fortunately, Seamus wasn't an idiot. Seeing that neither of the other two looked worried, he somehow seemed to summon a live-and-let-live attitude. Nobody else is panicking, so why should I?
Once he'd come to that realization, however, he promptly abandoned his conversation with Kevin and sulkily opened his luggage, taking out a book to read.
Andrew, meanwhile, began leafing through his own reading material, still amused.
Soon, their fourth member arrived—a somewhat nervous boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley entered the compartment.
"Thank goodness, I finally made it."
He cautiously looked at the three boys already there, then found a seat when none of them objected.
"My train was running a little late. I... almost... whew... didn't make it..."
"Hello, everyone. My name is... Justin Finch-Fletchley." He still hadn't caught his breath. "I thought that platform was a hoax. Such a thick wall, and I went straight through it!"
"True, that entrance is very well disguised."
Seamus felt like talking again. "But I charged through with my eyes open!"
"You're amazing."
Justin sounded impressed. "Unlike me. I don't know anything."
"Oh, it was nothing." Seamus puffed out his chest like a proud little rooster. "Mum told me about it. She also hopes I'll get into Gryffindor and grow up brave!"
"Gryffindor?"
"Yes, the best house," Seamus said firmly. "Lots of people I know say so."
"I don't really know much about it..."
"Put it this way: Hogwarts has four houses. Gryffindor's the best, Slytherin's the worst, and the other two are Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
Though it was a little unkind, Andrew really wanted to see the look on Seamus's face if he ended up in Slytherin.
But Seamus's informative lecture ended before it had properly begun.
"Have you heard? Harry Potter's on the train!"
A head poked into the compartment and withdrew before Andrew could get a clear look, leaving that bombshell behind.
Apart from Justin, who looked a little bewildered, all three of the others showed some reaction.
Seamus reacted most enthusiastically. "Harry Potter?"
"Goodness, he's the second most famous wizard Mum's ever mentioned!"
"Is he really powerful?"
Justin kept the conversation going, and what followed was a string of explanations Andrew knew all too well... even a speedrun wouldn't skip those.
Then, in a very short span of time, Andrew learned what a crowd of sightseers looked like.
It was as though someone had thrown tear gas into the compartments. People packed the corridor, forcing the person pushing the trolley to keep saying things like, "Sorry, please make way." Andrew suddenly felt as though he were caught in the Lunar New Year travel rush.
And, as luck would have it, Harry Potter was in the very same carriage as him...
How could he put it? Even the compartments were crammed with curious onlookers.
Some older students even squeezed in, filling the compartment under the pretext of looking after the first-years.
Still, this also gave Andrew and the others an early introduction to life at school.
Yet as the conversation went on, it drifted from Harry Potter, the second most famous wizard, to something Andrew didn't particularly want to hear about.
"Yes, exactly, that book—Dumbledore: A Legend."
"Lots of people say it's made up, but I can assure you that they only deliberately added a few stories to make things easier to understand. What really happened was even more extraordinary than what's in the book."
"Our Ravenclaw door knocker only revealed the existence of the single-use Ravenclaw's Diadem after Dumbledore answered so many questions that it couldn't come up with any more. You know, it was made by drawing power from the real diadem. That's the reason Dumbledore is so wise!"
Good grief, you're even more outrageous than those editors...
But because the other student sounded so utterly certain, Andrew wasn't sure anymore. What if it's true?
Who knew how much truth lay hidden amid all that exaggerated information?
"Really?"
"Of course. It was an alchemical item Ravenclaw made to reward the most outstanding students, specially designed to prevent them from abusing the diadem's power!"
"That's amazing. I heard that testing magic with the Levitation Charm was something Ravenclaw devised for Hogwarts back then, only for the pure-bloods to secretly adopt it for themselves. So there was even more to it?"
"Naturally. Wisdom is the greatest wealth!"
"Indeed." Andrew relaxed. The rest of the conversation wouldn't offer anything worthwhile. "Sorry, could you let me through? I'm afraid I need to use the toilet."
Before you continue