"How am I supposed to explain this to Ron when I get back? I promised him I'd give Scabbers to him to raise after he started school, but now he's gone. Our family is so poor that we really can't afford to buy him a new pet..."
Percy looked dejected, but he truly was not very good with words.
Mrs. Weasley's expression darkened slightly, but she still comforted her third son.
"Alright, if Scabbers ran away, then he ran away. He's a rat; he'll do just fine without us. It's getting late, and the train is about to leave. We have to go."
"Please forgive my interruption..." Lynn moved two steps closer to the Weasley family, poking his head over as he spoke to draw the Weasleys' attention.
"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on your conversation, but... is this your missing rat?"
Pinching Scabbers by the tail, he held the listless rat, which looked as though it had been drugged, out before Mrs. Weasley.
At once, the four Weasley brothers crowded around in delight.
"That's wonderful! Scabbers wasn't lost after all." Percy excitedly took Scabbers from Lynn's hand and looked at him with gratitude.
"Thank you."
George and Fred, meanwhile, immediately threw their arms around the shoulders of the Lynn they had just met.
"My name's Fred, and he's George. These are Percy and Charlie. We're all Weasleys, and that's our mum. Thank you so much for finding Scabbers. I don't think I've seen you at school before. Are you a new Hogwarts student? What's your name?"
Although Lynn was thick-skinned enough, he still found this kind of intimacy on their first meeting a little hard to adapt to. Mrs. Weasley noticed his discomfort, though. Dissatisfied, she slapped the twins' arms off his shoulders and angrily scolded them.
"Manners! I've told you to mind your manners outside, or people will say the Weasleys have no upbringing!"
Then her expression instantly softened.
"Thank you, dear. Are you going into the station? Didn't your parents come to see you off?"
"It's alright, ma'am. My parents are ordinary people, so they didn't come." Lynn was not deliberately lying; he had simply seen those pitying looks far too many times. They meant no harm, but he was tired of them.
Mrs. Weasley smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's getting late. If you don't mind, you can come in with us."
"Of course I don't mind, ma'am. I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Lynn Belloc, and I'm a first-year student at Hogwarts this year."
With his affirmative answer, Mrs. Weasley immediately began urging her sons along.
"Hurry up, the train is about to leave. Charlie, go first. Then let Lynn follow behind you. Don't be nervous, dear. Just close your eyes and walk straight through. Percy goes next, then George and Fred. I'll be last."
Charlie followed Mrs. Weasley's instructions and passed through the wall first. George and Fred, the two twins, exchanged mischievous looks and laughed.
"See? Mum always treats other people's children like her own. We must have been picked up off the street."
"Of course. Mum's love is boundless. She has love for every child in the world, except us. She's only strict with us. Ow! Ow, that hurts... Mum, we were wrong!"
Mrs. Weasley grabbed one of each twin's ears and snapped, "What nonsense are you talking about here? You haven't even reached Hogwarts yet, and you're already showing your true colors. Once you get to school, won't you turn the place upside down?"
These twins really were lively characters.
Lynn silently thought to himself, then followed behind Charlie and jogged toward the wall.
He had wanted to force himself to keep his eyes open the whole time, but when he was less than half a meter from the wall, his reflexes still kicked in.
He instinctively shut his eyes, and everything went dark.
The next moment, it felt as though he had passed through something, yet also as though he had passed through nothing at all.
"Alright, Lynn, you're through. You can stop now."
Charlie's voice reached his ears. Lynn halted and opened his eyes again.
A bright scarlet steam train filled his view.
A striking sign stood at the center of the locomotive, reading:
The Hogwarts Express, departing at eleven o'clock.
The noisy sounds around him reached his ears: the scraping of dragged trunks, the cries of owls, and the chatter of students and their families. Yet none of it annoyed Lynn in the slightest.
Just like Diagon Alley, this was a world that belonged solely to wizards.
Soon afterward, Percy, the Weasley twins, and Mrs. Weasley also passed through the wall and arrived at the station.
Without any further reminders, Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands.
"Alright, children, you're about to begin another school year. I'll say what I always say: safety comes first in everything.
"And George and Fred, cut back on the pranks. You'd only been at school for one year, and you already had the castle caretaker writing me complaint letters. Quite impressive. Percy, you're responsible for keeping an eye on them. Whatever they do, you must report it to me. Don't make me send you two a Howler.
"Remember to take good care of your new friend Lynn. Don't lead him astray and drag him into those pointless pranks with you."
George and Fred exchanged knowing looks, wiggled their eyebrows, and spoke in unison.
"We'll behave, Mum."
Mrs. Weasley did not believe a word of the promises made by her two troublemaker sons. Before leaving, she also gave Lynn a sandwich she had made herself as thanks, telling him not to dislike it.
Lynn gladly accepted it. After bidding Mrs. Weasley farewell, he boarded the Hogwarts Express with the four Weasley brothers.
Once they had put away their trunks, Charlie and Percy left separately to find their friends.
George and Fred, who were only one year above Lynn, extended an invitation.
"Want to sit with us in the same compartment? We can introduce you to our friends. Gryffindor students are all talented, and they speak so nicely."
After hesitating for a moment, Lynn ultimately declined.
"No, I think I'll find a compartment with some first-years. We've all just started school, so getting to know each other early will make it easier to get along later. But once we get to Hogwarts, I'll need your help getting familiar with the school."
George and Fred immediately puffed out their chests and patted them proudly.
"You've come to the right people. When it comes to knowing Hogwarts, even the professors might not know it better than we do.
"Then we'll see you at school. We hope you get sorted into Gryffindor."
After parting ways with the Weasley brothers, Lynn leisurely wandered through the train compartments.
Eventually, he found one that was not yet full.
He sat down and introduced himself with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Lynn Belloc."
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