This Is What a Savior Is Like

First-years' curiosity was boundless, and their ability to act on that curiosity kept pace perfectly.

Which meant Andrew regretted going to the bathroom a little—the corridor was even more crowded than the compartments.

Judging by the heights in the crowd, there were definitely older students mixed into the corridor, trying to sneak a peek at Harry Potter through the compartment windows before leaving satisfied, having checked in.

This era without phones was really far too boring...

If there were phones...

Andrew imagined a whole crowd filming TikToks outside Harry Potter's compartment...

Fine... not much different...

Unaware that Hogwarts interfered with Muggle electronics, Andrew made his complaint and pushed through the crowd back to his compartment—he would be able to see Harry Potter again anyway. Even if the topic came up later, he could just make something up...

After all, the people in the compartment could boast without even drafting a script. Making up a story about seeing Harry was hardly excessive.

Just as Andrew was figuring out how to brag without sounding too crude, the compartment door was knocked on again. A round-faced boy entered, his voice trembling with tears. "Sorry, have you seen my toad?"

"A toad? Your pet?"

Andrew, who had been listening to the bragging and preparing to join in, asked, "We haven't seen one in our compartment. But with the mess outside, I'm afraid it'll be hard for you to find your toad."

The moment he said that, the round-faced boy's eyes reddened.

Andrew, a little unable to handle it, hurriedly added, "But you could try asking a prefect for help. I heard from the older students that the Hufflepuff prefect is the most warmhearted. You could try asking him."

At a time when everyone was crowding around to see Harry, trying to properly talk to a group of people and look for a toad was no easy task—after finally queuing up and nearly getting to see Harry, were they supposed to let someone inspect for a toad just because he said so? How many students that age would care about your feelings?

Only a prefect could control the situation and conduct a search at a time like this—and even then, there was the issue of conflicts between different Houses...

"But the prefect..."

Seeing that the boy was about to cry, Andrew thought that working up the courage to ask strangers about a toad was already difficult enough for a younger student. Asking him to seek out a prefect really was a bit much.

"There's another way. If you really want to find your toad, ask Harry Potter for help. Isn't he on the train? I heard he has a good personality... and he's a new student too, so it might be easier to talk to him... Besides, you were going to his compartment to look anyway, weren't you?"

The new suggestion was still a little difficult for the round-faced boy, but his eyes showed some interest.

"Go on. We're new students too, and some compartments won't even open their doors for us," Andrew coaxed him. "But no one would refuse Harry Potter."

As if he had made up his mind, the round-faced boy hurriedly thanked him, then left the compartment as though gathering up all his courage and rushed toward Harry Potter's compartment.

"You're really something, Andrew!"

A second-year who had squeezed in praised him. "Now everyone can see Harry Potter."

"But that boy must really love his toad..." someone else commented. "Though if my family bought me one, I'd deliberately lose it right away and get an owl instead."

"Exactly. I really can't understand why anyone would buy a toad."

"Wasn't it something from over a decade ago, or even longer? Toad eggs stimulated with potions could be used as materials for Transfiguration and Potions?"

The conversation gradually drifted off in who knew what direction, and the people in the compartment, who had originally been restless, now felt much more at ease—there was no need to go see Harry now. They could just wait for Harry to come to them.

And that was indeed what happened—just as Andrew had learned, Harry was kind and softhearted.

At the round-faced boy's plea, quite a few people even joined the search party. Compartment after compartment was quickly searched, and when Harry Potter arrived with the round-faced boy and seven or eight helpers, the boy even thanked Andrew with a faint smile.

After searching again without finding anything, Harry thanked the people in the compartment alongside the wizard named Neville—who had finally remembered to introduce himself while explaining the situation—then hurried off with the helpers to the next compartment.

"He completely matches my image of the Savior!"

A Hufflepuff who had slipped in murmured in admiration. "He should be someone so eager to help people. Sorry, I have to go help."

"There's no need. Too many people would only make the search more troublesome."

Kevin suddenly chimed in. "There can't be too many people in a compartment, including the helpers, or there'll be no way to search properly."

"I'd feel better following along. Maybe I can help somehow."

The Hufflepuff who spoke smiled and followed them. The others, however, were clearly persuaded by Kevin. After thinking it over, they chose to stay behind and continue the earlier conversation.

Andrew was naturally no exception. He had regretted giving that advice a little afterward.

At first, he had merely wondered what would happen if he told the new students here that helping to find a toad or something similar might be an important standard in the entrance examination.

The amusing idea had made him laugh, but not for long before he realized how terrifying it could be—if he caused trouble on the first day of school, would it draw the school's intense attention?

Considering what he had already done, if he drew the school's intense attention, then...

Hiss...

He sucked in a breath as an image he did not want to see surfaced in his mind.

"Three-stage Levitation Charm, right?"

"Breaking off an engagement, right?"

So forget it. He should let someone else take the spotlight. It was not as though he was refusing to help; he was simply helping in a different way. He was not someone who liked drawing attention.

And so, after he calmly spent an hour bragging with the people in the compartment, cheers rang through the entire carriage. Everyone naturally left their compartments and entered the corridor, cheering at the confirmed news.

The news soon seemed to grow wings, spreading from this carriage to the next, until it had traveled throughout the entire train.

Thanks to the hard work of Harry Potter and over twenty students who had volunteered to help, the missing toad Trevor successfully returned to his owner, Neville.

Though there were some slightly disgruntled wails mixed in from people in compartments Harry had not visited—such as, "We waited in the compartment for so long, and that damned toad was actually found."—at least eighty percent of the Hogwarts students and new students had seen Harry and spoken with him.

Everyone was broadly satisfied—though one toad had even tried to escape, it was no big deal.

This was what a Savior should be like.