I have to say.
There were truly quite a few first-year students this year.
When Old Barty Crouch and Vinson Wright rushed to the London station, parents seeing their children off to school could be seen everywhere across the entire platform.
Every Hogwarts first-year pushed a small luggage cart laden with all their belongings, and there was no shortage of various bizarre pet cages.
The most conspicuous among them...
Was probably a group of red-haired people.
Because this wizarding family was simply far too large.
"That is Arthur Weasley's family."
Old Barty Crouch glanced at that family of redheads and introduced them in a low voice, "Arthur Weasley is currently the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry of Magic. He is a very warm person and gets along quite well with most of his colleagues at the Ministry..."
"Standing beside Arthur is his wife, Molly Weasley. Although Mrs. Molly Weasley looks somewhat quick-tempered, her personality is actually quite good. She is a mother who is exceptionally skilled at raising children, and anyone has to admit that..."
"Standing behind the two of them is their eldest son, Bill Weasley, who only graduated from Hogwarts two years ago with extremely outstanding academic results. I remember he obtained all his certificates in the Ordinary Wizarding Levels very early on..."
"Hey, Barty!"
Just as Old Barty Crouch was introducing the Weasley family to Vinson Wright, Arthur Weasley noticed Old Barty and greeted him with a loud laugh.
Clearly.
Their relationship was quite good.
Everyone on the platform immediately looked over.
Arthur Weasley didn't care in the least. While waving in their direction, he led his family toward Old Barty Crouch and Vinson.
"This is Mr. Crouch."
While reaching out to shake hands with Old Barty, Arthur Weasley introduced Old Barty Crouch's identity to his children, "Mr. Crouch is my colleague at the Ministry of Magic, and he currently seems to be the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation..."
The crowd of children in the Weasley family successively sized up Old Barty Crouch, curiously examining the middle-aged man dressed in a neat suit.
Based purely on appearances alone...
Old Barty Crouch did indeed look very much like a high-ranking Ministry official.
Compared to the unkempt father Arthur Weasley, Old Barty Crouch fit the little ones' impression of a Ministry official much better, especially since he truly was a high-ranking Ministry official.
"This is Bill."
Arthur Weasley pulled over the tall young man standing behind him and introduced him with a smile, "You should have seen Bill; he's currently working as a Curse-Breaker at Gringotts..."
"A promising young man."
Old Barty Crouch nodded earnestly.
"Hahahaha... Bill has really set a good example for his younger brothers and sister!"
Arthur Weasley laughed heartily a few times, seeming very pleased that someone was praising his eldest son. His palm landed once again on the shoulder of a young man pushing a luggage cart.
"This is Charlie."
With his arm around the young man's shoulder, the smile on Arthur Weasley's face grew a bit broader. "Charlie is already in his sixth year now, and he's currently a Gryffindor Prefect and the Quidditch team captain. Quite a few people say he'll definitely make it into the British national Quidditch team to compete!"
After saying that, Arthur Weasley couldn't help expressing a bit of regret. "But the lad loves researching magical creatures, and after graduating in a couple of years, he plans to go over to Romania to study dragons... What a pity, since our whole family was hoping to produce a Quidditch player!"
"That job requires quite a bit of patience."
There was still no shortage of admiration in the gaze Old Barty Crouch directed at Charlie Weasley. "If he needs any help in the future, I can help make some connections in Romania..."
"Then I'm deeply grateful."
Charlie Weasley nodded earnestly.
Now that Old Barty Crouch was the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, if Charlie Weasley wanted to go work in Romania, he would certainly need his help.
"This is the most studious lad in our family!"
Arthur Weasley walked over to the side of a curly red-haired young man, the smile on his face growing larger and larger. "Percy is only in his third year now. I feel that in another two years when he takes the O.W.Ls, Percy will be able to get all top grades across every single subject!"
"Good morning, Mr. Crouch."
Percy Weasley greeted Old Barty Crouch with a thoroughly earnest expression.
Compared to the other children of the Weasley family, Percy Weasley's attire was extremely neat, and even his speech was rigid and proper.
"Good morning, Mr. Percy Weasley."
Old Barty Crouch nodded politely.
"Alright, now these are the two little troublemakers in our family!"
Laughing heartily, Arthur Weasley pulled two red-haired boys pushing luggage carts into an embrace and introduced them with a booming laugh, "Fred, George—the two little rascals were born on April Fools' Day and love playing pranks more than anyone else in the house. They're just entering Hogwarts to study this year..."
It was extremely obvious.
Fred Weasley and George Weasley were a pair of twins.
Not only were their hair, appearances, and even the freckles on their faces almost identical, but even when their father suddenly hugged them, the expressions on both boys were completely the same.
It wasn't until Arthur Weasley let go of them that Fred and George finally let out sighs of relief and greeted Old Barty Crouch.
"Hello, I'm Fred, and you can also call me George."
"Hello, I'm George, and you can also call me Fred."
After the two little ones finished introducing themselves separately, they looked at each other and spoke in unison: "Because we know Mr. Crouch definitely won't be able to tell which one of us is who."
"Hahahahaha..."
Arthur Weasley couldn't help reaching out to mess up the hair of this pair of twin brothers, laughing as he said, "You really don't forget to be mischievous wherever you go..."
Having said that, Arthur Weasley pointed to the remaining son and daughter. "That's Ron, and that's Ginny. Our family finally has another well-behaved daughter, and in another couple of years Ron can enroll too, while Ginny still has to wait three more years..."
I have to say.
The Weasley family really was large.
Just the sheer number of wizards in their family alone could already be considered a massive lineage within the Wizarding World, and in fact, the Weasley family truly was a very famous one among the pure-blood wizarding families.
After Arthur Weasley finished introducing his family, his gaze landed on the gray-haired boy beside Old Barty Crouch. "This little fellow is..."
"Vinson Wright."
Looking at the curious Weasley family, Vinson Wright introduced himself, "For the time being, I am temporarily staying at Mr. Crouch's home..."
After finishing, his gaze appraised the red hair of the Weasley family, lingering with extra focus on the brothers Fred and George, and flashed them a friendly smile.
Mm...
This pair of brothers were both talents.
They must really love taking the blame for things, right?
Finally, Vinson's gaze landed on Ron Weasley.
One of the future trio of Chosen Ones.
Who could have imagined that this Ron Weasley, who didn't stand out much in the Weasley family, would unexpectedly turn out to be a winner in life down the road?
Old Barty Crouch patted Vinson Wright on the shoulder and continued introducing him to the others: "As it happens, Vinson is also a first-year student at Hogwarts this year."
"What a truly lovely little fellow..."
Molly Weasley praised Vinson with a beaming smile.
"...Thank you."
Vinson lowered his head slowly, smiling somewhat shyly.
At this second, the gray-haired boy truly looked completely harmless to humans and animals.
The next second.
Vinson instantly dropped the act.
"Mr. Percy Weasley, are you keeping a rat?"
The gray-haired boy, who had looked completely harmless in the eyes of the Weasley family just a moment ago, reached out and grabbed Percy's pet rat!
Just as the others were looking on in bewilderment, Vinson suddenly plucked out a tuft of rat fur, and the soundly sleeping rat immediately squeaked in pain!
"What are you doing!"
Percy Weasley stared in shock at Vinson, who was bullying the rat.
The Weasley family also watched this scene with dumbfounded expressions, and even little Ron's face revealed anger!
This person...
How could he be like this!
Vinson squinted and smiled, quietly putting away that tuft of rat fur, and spoke with a smile in explanation: "My owl loves eating rats very much, so I just wanted to ask Mr. Percy, can you sell it to me?"
Before you continue