Charles McKinnon

The two glanced at each other, then continued watching the commotion from the window,

"Do you think they'll start fighting?" Vivian asked Anduin, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

"Probably not. Haven't you seen the Aurors already trying to keep order?"

The Aurors who'd rushed over at the commotion soon broke up the gathering. They separated the two sides, who'd been arguing and looked ready to come to blows.

"Phew, I thought they might actually fight. Turns out they were just running their mouths. How boring." Vivian looked at the dispersing crowd, her face full of disappointment.

Anduin looked at the girl and felt as if he were watching one of those aunties from his Previous Life, standing by to gawk at the chaos and thinking, None of this has anything to do with me. Just sitting there quietly, enjoying the show.

"Which house do you think we'll be sorted into? Everyone in the Bulstrode family seems to end up in Slytherin Academy. I guess I will, too," Vivian asked, bored.

"I don't mind either way, but Ravenclaw would be best. I heard Ravenclaw has its own library." Anduin had looked into the different houses a little. All he wanted was to study in peace.

"Ha, just looking at you, I can tell Ravenclaw would suit you. You were reading as soon as I came in. I heard Ravenclaw students are all really clever."

"If you end up in Slytherin, you should be careful. The Magical World is such a mess right now, and I heard lots of people who worship the Dark Lord are in Slytherin." Anduin looked at Vivian and offered a kind warning.

"Not necessarily. Actually, lots of families from Slytherin stay neutral, just like the Bulstrode family. Many of them don't think the Dark Lord can win in the end." Vivian didn't seem concerned.

"Is that because of Dumbledore? I heard he's the greatest wizard of our time." Anduin wasn't particularly interested in Slytherin's internal views. As a Muggle-born, he was almost certain not to be sorted into Slytherin Academy.

"That's not the only reason. Our family head said the Dark Lord's pure-blood ideology is too extreme. He wants to get rid of wizards with Muggle blood, but plenty of Pure-blood families do business with Muggles. And..." Vivian leaned toward Anduin and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Lots of Pure-blood families have married Muggles at some point, too. Otherwise, those families couldn't have lasted all these years."

Anduin had considered that before. If families kept marrying close relatives, many of their children would end up with mental or physical disorders.

"Don't say that in Slytherin, or they'll definitely give you trouble." Anduin looked at the girl, who was always talking nonsense, and felt speechless.

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid."

Just then, someone interrupted their conversation.

A boy knocked on the door.

"Hey, mind if I squeeze in with you?" The boy grinned and scratched his head. "The other compartments are all full."

"Of course not. There's plenty of room. What's your name? I'm Anduin Wilson, and this is Vivian Bulstrode." The compartment could seat six, so even with three people inside, it didn't feel crowded.

"Charles. My name's Charles McKinnon." Charles smiled shyly.

Charles was very tall. Anduin thought he might even be taller than him, but he was rather thin.

As soon as Vivian heard Charles's name, she stared at Anduin and waggled her eyebrows. The meaning was obvious: this was someone from the McKinnon family, the one they'd just been talking about.

Anduin glanced at Vivian and helped Charles put away his luggage. As soon as Charles sat down, Vivian launched into a chat with him.

At least they were only talking about casual things. Anduin was afraid Vivian would blurt out, "Were you the one who almost got into a fight outside just now?" He could already imagine how awkward the compartment would be for the rest of the journey.

"Hey, have you heard? Minister of Magic Harold Minchum is about to step down. Everyone says that apart from putting more and more Dementors around Azkaban, he hasn't done a thing to stop the Dark Lord from seizing power. The Death Eaters have been getting more and more brazen lately. I heard they attacked Sirius Black in Diagon Alley last month." Vivian held up a copy of the Daily Prophet for the two of them.

That was Knockturn Alley. Anduin silently sighed. Vivian seemed to know a little about everything. Her sources were almost too good. She'd make a great gossip columnist one day.

"He should've been replaced ages ago. Passive defense just leads to more needless casualties. Those damned Death Eaters will stop at nothing." Charles seemed to hate the Death Eaters. The moment he started talking about them, his shy manner vanished, and he spoke with a furious expression.

"Don't worry. They won't be able to keep this up for long." Anduin didn't remember much of the Harry Potter plot, but he did know that Voldemort would die not long after Harry was born.

Charles McKinnon took Anduin's words as an attempt to comfort him. He gave an awkward smile. "Our family has always been dedicated to fighting the Dark Lord, and several of us have joined the Aurors. Those Death Eaters attacked my uncle before and broke one of his legs. He's still recovering at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. He's absolutely certain that one of the Death Eaters who attacked him was Travers, but the Ministry of Magic didn't even investigate, saying there was no evidence. It's outrageous."

Charles McKinnon vented to Anduin and Vivian about the Ministry and the Death Eaters. Anduin realized that there must be differing opinions within the Ministry of Magic, which was preventing it from fully opposing Voldemort. It seemed the change of Minister of Magic was connected to that, too.

"That's awful. Your uncle saw the Death Eaters committing the crime with his own eyes, and they still couldn't arrest them?" Vivian asked, looking incredulous.

"Many Death Eaters wear masks when they're out on missions. Sometimes, even if you recognize who they are, there's nothing you can do." Anduin explained it to Vivian, after all, he'd dealt with Death Eaters himself.

Charles McKinnon nodded at Anduin's explanation, but couldn't help wondering how Anduin knew so much.

While the three kids were busy discussing national affairs, the train finally began to move.

"About time the train got going. I heard it takes several hours to get there." Vivian started chattering again.

Several hours? Anduin couldn't understand why, in a magical world with such convenient magic, they had to spend several hours on the journey—and travel in such an outdated steam train, at that. He turned to the two beside him and asked.