Confrontation

Yulian recognized Elizabeth Rosier, whom he had met when buying his wand.

She was wearing a dark green velvet dress today, which made her skin appear even fairer. A silver snake-shaped brooch gleamed on her chest.

Seeing Yulian, she seemed surprised as well. She raised an eyebrow, a half-smile playing on her lips. "Well, isn't this Mr. Black, who was rejected by his wand? It seems your wand hasn't exploded you yet."

"What a coincidence, Miss Rosier," Yulian said with a smile. "Why is a young lady like you sneaking around?"

Rosier snorted softly and tucked the suitcase in her hand under the seat. Just as she was about to introduce herself, she suddenly noticed Lyria opposite her.

Lyria seemed to react intensely. She stood up abruptly, her cloak slipping off unnoticed, her eyes blazing with uncontrollable anger, her voice trembling with emotion. "Rosier! Are you from House Rosier?!"

Rosier froze. "You know me?"

"I don't know you, but I know your family's infamous reputation!" Lyria's voice suddenly rose, sharp and cold like the North Wind.

"Murderers! Thieves! Your House Rosier is stained with the blood of innocents! My grandmother... died under your family's curse!"

The air in the compartment seemed to drop to freezing point.

Rosier's face turned from pale to green, then from green to red. Having grown up with a sense of pure-blood superiority, she had never been insulted like this to her face.

She stood up abruptly, her wand appearing in her hand from who knows where, its tip pointed directly at Lyria. "What nonsense are you spouting! I've never met you, nor do I know anything about a curse! I can see it now, you're one of those Northern barbarians, always resorting to dark arts for sneak attacks!"

"Dark arts?" Lyria sneered, slowly raising her hands, a faint blue cold light emanating from her palms. "Then let me show you the true Northern Power!"

Seeing that the two were about to fight, Yulian quickly stepped forward, blocking the space between them. "Stop it, both of you! This is the Hogwarts Express, not a dueling ground!"

Before he could finish speaking, the train gave a violent jolt and slowly began to move.

The platform outside the window started to recede, and the Weasley family's figures gradually blurred. Only the smallest red-haired girl could be vaguely seen running along the tracks and waving.

In a compartment several carriages ahead.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were sharing a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, the atmosphere relaxed and cheerful. Harry was very happy to have seemingly made friends so soon after boarding.

Suddenly, the compartment door was roughly pushed open.

"I heard Harry Potter was on the Hogwarts train, so it seems that's true." A boy with slicked-back platinum blonde hair stood at the doorway, followed by his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, a familiar arrogant smile on his face.

Harry recognized the arrogant boy from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, who had also insulted Hagrid.

"My name is Draco Malfoy," the boy said, his voice with a peculiar accent and drawl. "These are Crabbe and Goyle. You should know that some wizards are naturally nobler than others."

Malfoy then glanced at Ron's red hair. "Don't associate with people like that, for instance, a disgrace to wizards who can't afford to feed their many children."

After speaking, Malfoy extended his right hand to Harry Potter.

Upon hearing Malfoy's words, Ron's face immediately turned red. Just as he was about to step forward, Harry stopped him and then slapped Malfoy's hand away. "I have a completely opposite view on how to make friends."

Now it was Malfoy's turn to blush. Seeing this, Crabbe and Goyle immediately stepped forward, waiting for Malfoy's command. They were about to teach the ungrateful Harry Potter a lesson. A conflict was about to erupt.

Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of the train, the ticket inspector with the missing finger stood at the junction of two carriages, his eyes fixed on the man in black who was about to enter the carriage passage.

"I don't care who you are or what you're looking for. But please remember this is the Hogwarts Express. You can either go to Azkaban or jump off now."

Cassian Thorne did not want to fight on the train, especially with a large number of students behind him. Even the older students seemed like naive fledglings to him.

"I don't want any trouble. I just want to find our family's young lady, to ensure her safety." The man in black spoke with a distinct German accent.

"I think I've made myself clear. The Hogwarts Express is part of Hogwarts, and it's safe here, except for you. If you don't want trouble, get off the train immediately!"

Normally, as an operative from the Department of Mysteries, Cassian was confident he could repel the man in front of him in a hundred ways, or forcibly apparate him away. But unfortunately, Apparition was forbidden on the Hogwarts Express.

"I need to take the young lady away. She belongs to Durmstrang." The man stepped forward.

"I don't know who you're referring to as 'the young lady,' but it's common knowledge that a ticket for the Hogwarts Express is tied to an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. This indicates your young lady has already been admitted to Hogwarts. If you have any doubts, please contact Dumbledore."

The man in front of him said nothing further, but his right hand retreated into his sleeve.

Facing the towering Crabbe and Goyle, Harry and Ron were secretly apprehensive. But neither of them backed down.

Drawing on his years of experience dealing with Dudley, Harry was contemplating whether to strike first or dodge the hulking figures and then go for a surprise attack.

At this critical moment, the compartment door was pushed open again.

"Excuse me, have you seen a toad? Neville lost his toad!" A girl with long, curly brown hair stood at the doorway, her brow furrowed, her tone anxious and impatient.

"Uh, what are you doing? Fighting is not allowed on the train!" Hermione only then noticed the situation in the compartment.

Malfoy glanced at her, then at the timid chubby boy Neville trailing behind the girl, and sneered, "Crabbe, Goyle. Look, anyone can get on the Hogwarts train now. Hogwarts has become a shelter for... rubbish, squibs, idiots, mud..."

Malfoy managed to stop himself before saying the last word. "I need to write to my father and tell him Hogwarts needs a cleanup."

Since the compartment door was open, many young wizards from nearby compartments had gathered at the doorway upon hearing the commotion.

"What's going on! What's going on!" A red-haired older boy pushed his way through. "I'm a prefect! Disperse now and return to your compartments. No disturbances, or I'll report you to Professor McGonagall."

Seeing the crowd, Malfoy glared fiercely at the three and left with his cronies, looking disgruntled.

The girl with the curly brown hair then breathed a sigh of relief, walked into the compartment, and said in a low voice, "Fortunately, fighting now could get you expelled."

Ron scratched his head and muttered softly, "If you hadn't come, I would have punched Goyle's nose off."

Seeing this, Harry quickly stopped Ron. "Thank you. I'm Harry Potter. And you are?"

"Oh, Harry Potter! I know you! I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Neville Longbottom. I've bought and read all the books about you... Do you really have that scar?" The girl spoke at a machine-gun pace.

Neville couldn't get a word in, but he looked at Harry with envy and awe. The two seemed to have completely forgotten about looking for the toad.