On the Train

A month was neither long nor short.

Aside from his research, Klein spent all his remaining time traveling with Bathilda Bagshot.

Using the Floo Network, they visited quite a few places, and didn't return to Godric's Hollow until the evening of August 31st.

The next day, Klein waved goodbye to the old woman and headed alone to King's Cross Station, pulling his suitcase behind him.

"Interesting."

Murmuring to himself, Klein's gaze fell on the space between Platforms Nine and Ten at King's Cross Station—a remarkably concealed and ingenious illusion array.

Ordinary people who couldn't sense magic would instinctively overlook it.

The craftsmanship reminded him of the Devil's Triangle in Bermuda.

"All right, here you are, boy. Platform Nine—Platform Ten. Your platform should be somewhere between these two, right? But it looks like they haven't built it yet."

Just then, a pudgy middle-aged man pushing a trolley stopped behind Klein. He stuck out his belly and grinned maliciously, the fat on his body wobbling with the movement.

"Heh!" "Hahahaha."

The tall, thin woman accompanying him and the mountain-sized, obese boy laughed too, making no effort to hide their schadenfreude.

"Well, Harry, have a good new school year."

Narrowing his eyes, the middle-aged man let go of the trolley and led his wife and son away without hesitation, leaving behind a thin, bespectacled boy who stood there, bewildered.

Clearly, this was a premeditated prank.

"Um..."

Harry Potter wanted to ask for help, but his shy nature left him unsure how to begin.

Carrying an owl around in public was already strange enough. Asking someone about a place that didn't even exist?

He didn't want anyone to think he was crazy.

"Follow me."

Just as Harry was wondering for the fifth time whether he should ask a guard for help, a calm voice came from somewhere in front of him.

He jerked his head up. A handsome boy in a light linen hunting jacket, his hair tied back in a short ponytail, was looking at him calmly.

"What?"

Harry didn't quite understand.

But Klein didn't wait for him. He simply pulled his suitcase toward the space between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"Hey, wait!"

Klein had already gone five or six meters before Harry finally came to his senses. He hurriedly pushed his luggage trolley after him.

Honestly, even he didn't know why he was doing this.

But before his mind could register how strange his actions were, his body had already followed the handsome boy through the barrier and into a whole new world.

"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters..."

He'd made it through!

"No need to thank me."

Klein turned and gave Harry Potter, who was beaming and exclaiming that he couldn't believe it, a faint smile. Then he boarded the train without looking back.

The train was an old-fashioned steam engine. The corridor wasn't especially narrow, but it was by no means spacious.

Energetic boys and girls darted between the carriages like bees weaving through a hive. Klein was swept into the crowd and inevitably became one of them. By the time he managed to get free and found an empty carriage at the rear of the train, his hunting jacket was almost as wrinkled as a table napkin.

"It's good to be young~"

Though a little disheveled, Klein had a smile on his face. This new experience had been thoroughly enjoyable.

"Scourgify."

A little spell spared Klein the trouble of looking untidy. He put away his suitcase, then sat by the window with a relieved sigh and quietly began reading the thick black book he'd brought with him.

This was the least conspicuous carriage on the entire train. If he could, he would have liked to have it all to himself.

Unfortunately, Hogwarts had far more students than he'd expected. Before long, a girl slid open the compartment door.

"Hey, give me a hand— I mean, hello."

The girl had a chin-length chestnut bob and was dragging a huge suitcase behind her—it was at least twice the size of Klein's.

"Hello."

Klein stood and very courteously helped her stow her luggage. Once he was done, he showed no interest in chatting. He sat back down and returned his gaze to his book.

"I'm Pansy, Pansy Parkinson. Are you a new Hogwarts student too?"

Pansy gazed at Klein's focused profile, her cheeks turning red despite herself. Fighting down the breathless nervousness in her heart, she asked him timidly.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you. I'm Klein Grindelwald."

With a helpless look, Klein closed his book and raised his head. His eyes met Pansy's, and he gave her a polite, pleasant smile.

"Uh..."

Pansy didn't know what it felt like to be shot, but the moment she saw that smile, it felt as though a bullet had struck her heart. No, that wasn't right. It should have been an arrow.

Cupid's arrow!

"Pansy?"

Seeing the girl's reaction, Klein looked puzzled, though inwardly he was already used to it.

The blood of the Grindelwald family had given him not only exceptional talent but also striking looks. Back when he was "Durmstrang's most talented wizard," he'd had more than a hundred admirers—far more than Viktor Krum, by any measure.

Too bad wizards couldn't live on their looks. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been targeted at every turn in his previous life.

"Oh, sorry. I spaced out."

Pansy came back to herself and gave him a slightly embarrassed smile.

Girls at the age when they first fell in love tended to let their imaginations run wild. What was that saying again?

"The moment our eyes met, I'd already decided on a name for our children."

She wasn't quite that extreme, but she wasn't far off.

"It's all right. Make yourself comfortable."

Klein told her not to worry, then tactfully and decisively ended the conversation and opened his book again.

Politeness came naturally to him, but only studying could bring him true happiness~

The train sped onward, and the atmosphere in the carriage was unusually quiet.

A scene straight out of a play or a novel was unfolding before her eyes. Pansy's face was burning red, and in just these ten-odd minutes, she'd stolen at least seven or eight glances at Klein.

After hesitating for a long while, she finally plucked up the courage to strike up a conversation with him.

"Um, Klein, sorry to interrupt, but I'm curious—what book is that?"

"This?"

Klein looked up, the corner of his mouth curling into a meaningful smile.

"Just a little personal research. Nothing important."

"Researching magic? You must be really clever!"

Pansy's eyes lit up. She was as excited as if she'd discovered a new continent.

But before she could learn more about what this supposedly "unimportant research" involved, a rather haughty voice reached them.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one."

Someone opened the compartment door from the outside. A brown-haired girl with curls walked in, accompanied by a round-faced boy.