Vivian Bulstrode

Days passed, and soon it was time to head to school. Anduin was quite satisfied with what he had gained during this period.

Anduin packed his luggage, bid farewell to Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, and set off for King's Cross Station. After spending over a month with Anduin, Tom had grown quite fond of him and gifted him a small barrel of Butterbeer. In return, Anduin left behind a few simple recipes, like fried chicken, which made Tom look at him with even more warmth.

Anduin arrived at King's Cross Station early, alone with his luggage. He loaded his belongings onto a trolley one by one, checked for anything left behind, then pulled out his ticket from the acceptance letter. Professor McGonagall had explained the boarding instructions to him before they parted ways.

Pushing the trolley to the pillar between Platform 9 and Platform 10, Anduin noticed many Aurors maintaining order nearby. "Probably to prevent Muggles from wandering in and causing trouble," he thought.

Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Anduin pushed the trolley straight at the wall.

On the other side, a deep red, old-fashioned steam locomotive stood by the platform. There weren't many passengers yet. The train was set to depart at 11, and it was only a little past 9—Anduin had arrived very early.

Walking alongside the train with his trolley, he randomly picked a carriage. With a wave of his small hand, all his luggage floated beside him as he entered the carriage.

Finding an empty compartment, Anduin opened the door and pointed. His luggage flew up onto the luggage rack by itself.

"Shunfeng, wake up," Anduin called to his owl. He found the owl, Shunfeng, still dozing with its eyes half-closed. Anduin shook his head, placed the owl cage on the table, and closed the door.

Anduin decided to change into his wizard robes while it was still quiet. Then he sat in a corner of the compartment, pulled out a copy of Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, and started reading. In truth, he had already read this book many times and had attempted Transfiguration a few times.

As it stood, he had the deepest grasp of Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, knowing many spells, but Transfiguration—a subject requiring direct instruction from a teacher—was still at the beginner stage for him.

About an hour later, the platform outside grew crowded with people. Just then, the compartment door was knocked on.

"Is this seat taken?" a girl asked, pointing at the seat opposite Anduin.

She looked young, with long brown hair and a pair of light green eyes that held a hint of innocence.

"No, please, have a seat." Anduin smiled.

"I'm Anduin Wilson. Let me help you." Seeing the girl struggling to lift her suitcase onto the rack, Anduin kindly offered.

He pointed, and the girl's suitcase floated up, settling smoothly onto the rack.

"Cool! I'm Vivian Bulstrode. Are you an older student? You can cast without a wand! I'm a new student about to start this year." Vivian, impressed by Anduin's display, assumed he was a senior.

It was an easy mistake to make. Anduin was sturdier than most his age, already standing at over 1.5 meters with a solid build.

"No, I'm a new student too. I'm only good at this one spell." Anduin told a small lie. A few days ago, he had also mastered Silent Wandless Casting for the Obstacle Charm, but he didn't want to stand out too much.

"You're amazing! Are you from one of the Pure-blood families? I don't recall the surname Wilson." Vivian tilted her head, thinking hard, but came up empty. "My dad and granddad are both Squibs, and my mom's a Muggle. My granddad was once disowned by the Bulstrode family. You wouldn't believe it—when I got my Hogwarts acceptance letter, he was overjoyed. Because of me, our family was reinstated into the Bulstrode family."

"I'm an orphan, and I have nothing to do with any Pure-blood family. I'm a Muggle-born wizard," Anduin replied flatly. "Your family disowned your granddad—don't you resent them? Why are you so happy about it?"

"You don't look like a Muggle-born at all." Vivian couldn't imagine Anduin being Muggle-born, given how smoothly he handled the Levitation Charm.

"My granddad hated being a Squib. He says I'm his pride. Isn't it good to be back in the family? The Bulstrode family is one of the twenty-eight Pure-blood families in the magical world!"

Anduin couldn't quite grasp the logic of Vivian's family. Bloodlines, to him, were nonsense. If he had been disowned by a family, he wouldn't give them the time of day. Clearly, this girl was proud of her status, chatting away to a stranger the moment she got on the train.

Just then, a commotion broke out on the platform. A crowd had gathered, and from a distance, it looked like people were arguing.

"Do you know what's going on over there, Vivian?"

"Let me see." Vivian opened the window, stuck her head out, and peered into the distance.

"One side looks like the Travers family, the other like the McKinnons. I've seen them at family banquets." Vivian pulled her slightly wind-tousled head back in and closed the window.

"I heard someone from the Travers family is a Death Eater, and an Auror from the McKinnon family was badly injured by that Death Eater. The McKinnons think everyone in the Travers family serves Vo—I mean, the Dark Lord. But the Travers family denies it all, saying it was that Death Eater's personal act, and that they've got the wrong people—no one in the Travers family is a Death Eater." Vivian whispered dramatically to Anduin.

"How do you know all this? Didn't your family just get reinstated?" Anduin had only asked casually about the commotion, but this girl not only recognized the people but knew their family feuds inside out.

"Ever since we were reinstated, the head of the Bulstrode family has been taking me to visit other families. I've heard so many stories over tea and snacks. Let me tell you, the Pure-blood families are deep waters!" Vivian looked at Anduin with an expression that said, "The world is more complicated than you think," full of mystery.

Just call yourself a Gossip Girl and be done with it, Anduin thought to himself.