Arrival

The train came to a stop, and the students poured out in groups, gathering together on a small, dark platform.

Harry felt nervous now—very nervous. He glanced at Ron beside him, and Ron's pale face told him that Ron was just as unsettled.

Combined with the chill of the night, Harry had already begun to shiver.

Luke, who had emerged from another carriage, was remarkably calm. He even had the leisure to admire the scenery around them.

Though the platform looked small and shabby, there were mountains all around and a lake nearby. Luke found the view quite satisfying.

Then he noticed Hermione beside him. She was biting her lip, her face pale. He did not know whether she was frightened or simply cold.

"Don't worry. There's no entrance exam, and no getting expelled at the start of term. In a little while, we're just going to be Sorted into Houses. After that, there'll be a lavish feast—though preferably not one with nothing but British cuisine..."

Hermione looked at the unusually calm Luke. After taking a deep breath, she managed to calm herself down as well.

"First-years! First-years, over here! Harry, come over here! How are you?"

Harry heard Hagrid's booming voice from far away. The joy of seeing him again washed away his unease, and he hurried toward Hagrid, dragging the bewildered Ron along with him.

Luke and Hermione spotted Hagrid as well.

"He's so tall! Is he the PE teacher?"

Hermione could not help remarking before asking Luke.

Luke's mouth twitched. Still, Hermione's reaction... seemed understandable?

"No, that's Hagrid, Hogwarts' Keeper of Keys and groundskeeper. As far as I know, Hogwarts doesn't have formal PE classes. If you had to call something PE, Flying Class would probably count..."

But it always feels more like learning to drive...

Luke grumbled inwardly.

Hermione looked at Luke in some shock. She knew that the magical world's curriculum would certainly differ from that of ordinary schools, but the lack of even PE classes made her feel the disparities between worlds.

Still, that was not necessarily a bad thing for her. Compared with exercise, she preferred reading.

"Come on. The first-years are taking boats. The older students will go another way."

With that, Luke headed toward Hagrid.

Hermione frowned slightly. Why did Luke know so much about Hogwarts? The students around them—even Malfoy—looked nervous.

Did his guide explain everything to him? Why didn't my guide tell me?!

Fortunately for Hermione, Luke could not hear her thoughts. Otherwise, he would definitely have told her—

If you could give your guide a high-level Magic Notes from more than three hundred years ago, then you could definitely receive nearly perfect guidance as well.

Of course, Luke's main source of information was still his memories from his previous life.

"Long time no see, Hagrid!"

Luke greeted Hagrid.

Hagrid looked at Luke and laughed heartily. "Long time no see, Luke. Looks like you've got yourself a very cute cat."

He pointed at Book, whose head was poking out from Luke's arms, a gentle smile on his face.

"He's very clever. He seems to have Kneazle blood."

Luke stroked Book's head and smiled. "I know. Madam Katharine told me when I bought him."

After a brief exchange, Hagrid saw that nearly all the students had arrived and led them down a steep, narrow path. Grim woods lined both sides of the trail, with insects chirping now and then from within.

The dense canopy blocked out the moonlight, allowing only a few faint rays through. The main source of light was the lantern in Hagrid's hand.

Harry instinctively moved closer to Hagrid, seeking a sense of safety from his broad, sturdy frame.

Though Luke knew nothing would happen here, the atmosphere had built up to this point, so he gripped his sleeve tightly, ready to draw his wand at any moment.

Suddenly, he felt something tug at his sleeve. He instinctively reached for his wand, but quickly realized it was Hermione's hand.

He could vaguely make out Hermione's face. Clearly, this environment still frightened her a little.

Luke did not shake her hand off, but neither did he offer any comfort. He simply continued following Hagrid in silence.

"Round this bend, and you'll get your first sight of Hogwarts!" Hagrid suddenly shouted over his shoulder.

Luke could sense that quite a few people in the group had jumped, but soon afterward, they all let out a loud, awestruck "Ooh—"

The black lake finally came fully into view. Across it, on a hillside, stood a towering castle, its windows gleaming like stars.

Hagrid looked at the children's stunned expressions, a proud smile appearing on his face.

"Down to the lake, children! No more than four to a boat!"

Maintaining his look of surprise and awe, Luke boarded a boat. He only felt that the scene before him was countless times more breathtaking than what he had seen in the films back then.

Hermione followed closely behind. Harry and Ron boarded after her.

"Um, Luke, I went a bit too far in the compartment earlier. But I was just so angry at the time that I couldn't control myself."

Ron spoke to Luke as soon as he got into the boat.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, clearly dissatisfied with that excuse.

Luke smiled and patted Ron on the shoulder. "It's normal for us to get angry with each other, Ron. But never let anger drive you to make a decision. Not being swept along by anger is a basic quality we should have."

Ron could hear the lecturing tone in Luke's words, but he still nodded. After all, he felt Luke's lectures were at least a little better than Percy's.

"At least they sound more reasonable," Ron muttered to himself.

After that, they drew close to the cliff, passed through a curtain of ivy, and, after going through a pitch-black tunnel, finally arrived at an underground dock.

As they got off the boats, Hagrid somehow found a toad in one of them and returned it to Neville.

At long last, they passed through the tunnel and climbed a flight of stone steps.

There stood the oak Great Door.

Hagrid stepped forward and knocked on the Great Door three times.

The door slowly opened from within.

Luke could clearly feel that nearly every student present had held their breath. For the Wizard-born students, they had finally arrived at the school of their dreams.

And for students like Hermione, what had opened before them was the door to a new world.

When describing the area around the station, I did not follow the original work exactly. For example, in the original, you had to round that bend before you could see the Black Lake. Here, I wrote that part of the Black Lake could be seen from afar, just not the whole thing. Looking back over it, the route first-years had to take really was ridiculously troublesome. Who even came up with that idea? [laughing through tears]