A Certain Scientific Harry Potter 18

He dragged a pile of sloppily packed luggage behind him, looking at the two of them with a nervous, expectant gaze.

"Of course you can, please sit down~" Hermione pointed generously at the empty seat beside Harry.

"Oh, thank you so much! I... I'm Neville Longbottom, it's nice to meet you."

Neville's personality seemed somewhat introverted, and he spoke in a slow, hesitant manner. Seeing this, Harry couldn't help but force a helpless smile onto his face.

Well, well, this is a bad start~

Harry had actually hoped to run into a troublemaker like Malfoy on the train, as that would mean he could significantly accelerate his process of causing chaos. But if it were an honest person like Neville, he really couldn't bring himself to pick a fight.

Especially after discovering that Neville was not only an honest person but also a total pushover, Harry felt even more embarrassed to bully him.

"Harry, it's really great that you were chosen by the Granger family... If you had been chosen by our family, you might be like me, always being scolded by your grandmother~"

"So Neville's family is also on the list of foster homes? Is your grandmother a witch too?"

Hermione chatted quite pleasantly with Neville. Although Neville appeared a bit slow-witted, he was the third person besides Hagrid and Quirrell to acknowledge Harry's change of surname, which made Hermione feel that her own family was being respected by him.

"Yes... my grandmother is a witch, and she has a super fierce temper! Whenever I forget things, she would... oh, no! My Trevor is missing!!"

This child Neville seemed to be truly strictly managed by his grandmother; whenever he mentioned that old lady, he would involuntarily start checking his belongings, only to find that his pet was actually gone!

"Oh no! I have to find Trevor!"

After rummaging through his luggage until it was a complete mess and still finding nothing, Neville ran out of the compartment in a panic.

"Let's go follow him," Harry shrugged helplessly. "He won't be able to find it like that. We'll take Crookshanks to help him."

Neville's nature was too introverted. If they hadn't known him before, the other students on the train probably wouldn't be willing to deal with him. Searching like a needle in a haystack, he might not even find it by the time they got off the train.

And Hermione's Crookshanks was no ordinary cat.

To raise this cat well, Harry had communicated frequently with Scamander and had even sent some samples like blood and fur to him.

From the other's reply, Harry and Hermione learned that Crookshanks actually possessed a portion of Kneazle blood!

Its sense of smell was very keen, and it was exceptionally intelligent. No matter where Harry hid the "special delicacies" he had carefully prepared, it could easily sniff them out.

Therefore, having raised the cat for a thousand days, it was now time for it to go to work.

"Coo~" As for Hedwig, she jumped onto Harry's shoulder quite self-consciously.

Hedwig was no silly bird; with the two people and one cat in the compartment all leaving, why would she stay here by herself?

Chapter 30: Wizards Have Very Exotic Tastes

"Oh no! Trevor... I can't find him at all! This is the end..."

Sure enough, as soon as Harry and Hermione stepped out of the compartment, they saw the dejected Neville once again.

He had just asked many people in every compartment, but everyone either didn't know or simply didn't want to bother with him, and he was currently fretting over what to do.

Upon learning that Hermione was willing to lend him Crookshanks to help search, Neville thanked them profusely.

At the same time, he embarrassingly realized that he had been running in the completely wrong direction just now~

And so, the trio set off again to begin searching for Neville's lost pet toad.

Relying on the excellent sense of smell of Crookshanks, they quickly locked onto a certain compartment and saw Trevor lying on the window, camouflaged as a Chocolate Frog.

However, the atmosphere in this compartment was not very harmonious at the moment.

There were two groups of people confronting each other at the door... or, to be precise, one person was simply being picked on by another group.

One of them was someone Harry knew; the leader of the group picking the fight was none other than Malfoy, whom he had seen in Diagon Alley earlier.

He had brought two lackeys with him this time. Their appearance didn't matter; their builds were similar to Dudley's, and they were even ugly in a similar way.

Confronting them was a boy with red hair and a few freckles on his face.

There were two other people in the compartment, but they were huddled in the corner, showing no intention of participating, their attitude of self-preservation quite obvious.

"As expected, my father was right. The Weasleys are all red-headed, covered in freckles, and have so many children they can't even afford to feed them. With this kind of poverty-stricken look, you won't be welcome anywhere~"

Malfoy mocked the red-haired boy with biting sarcasm, his sneer deepening with every word he spoke.

The two lackeys behind him also cooperated by gradually lifting their noses high into the air... just like the two silly sons of Master Hua~

"Say that again?!" the red-haired boy roared in anger, though his tone carried a hint of imperceptible bitterness.

To a certain extent, Malfoy's assessment of his family was entirely correct.

The red-haired boy was indeed quite strapped for cash. He had never had much pocket money growing up, and everything he used was second-hand stuff passed down from his older brothers; the other two children in the compartment could happily share the snacks they had just bought, while he could only silently gnaw on a homemade sandwich that was so dry it was hard to swallow.

Not being welcome, that was only natural, right...

"Malfoy, are you done with your nonsense?" Harry's impatient cold snort came from behind Malfoy. "If you're done, move aside. Don't delay us from helping Neville find his pet."

"Harry, you're actually walking with someone from the Longbottom family?" Malfoy turned around, and upon seeing it was Harry, a mocking smile appeared on his face. "As expected, you can only hang out with such weirdos and misfits now."

"Is that so?" Harry raised an eyebrow noncommittally. "But I think Neville is much more pleasing to the eye than your two blockheaded lackeys. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. A fool, an idiot, and a jerk—the three of you are a perfect match~"

"Damn it!"

"What did you say?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Malfoy's two lackeys were instantly filled with rage, and one of them even impulsively raised his fist.

"Harry, are you looking for a fight with me again?" Malfoy glared at Harry coldly, his face dark. "This time, I'll definitely make you regret it!"

"That's a great suggestion. Hermione, step back."

Harry was all for Malfoy wanting to fight here; he was just worrying about how to stir up some trouble, and this was like being handed a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.

"This..." However, seeing Harry take a stance so readily, Malfoy actually felt a bit intimidated.

Although his side had three people, if you didn't count that Mudblood witch, the other side also had three: Harry, the Longbottom boy, and the Weasley boy.

Furthermore, they were currently caught in a pincer movement; if a brawl really broke out, this bastard Harry would definitely seize the opening to target him again!

What's more...

"Hoot!" On Harry's shoulder, Hedwig, who had been resting easily, suddenly widened her bright, piercing eyes.

"Meow!!" And on the floor, Crookshanks had puffed up all his ginger fur, staring fixedly in Malfoy's direction.

"Hmph! I'll let it slide this time, but you'd all better watch yourselves once we're at Hogwarts!"

After carefully assessing the threat posed by Hedwig's and Crookshanks' claws, Malfoy chose the optimal way to de-escalate the conflict.

He spat out a harsh threat, then tucked his tail between his legs and scurried away.

"Tch, what a coward. A total waste of my time."

Harry curled his lip in disdain. It seemed his plan to get a major demerit right at the start of the school year was likely going down the drain.

"Trevor!" Seeing the situation settle, Neville scrambled into the compartment, carefully scooping his pet toad off the window frame.

"Meow..."

"Crookshanks, it's okay, it's over now." Seeing his cat still growling in alert, Hermione hurriedly scooped him into her arms to soothe him.

"Hey, classmate, could you please put your rat away?" The observant Harry had discovered the real reason Crookshanks was bristling.

The cat's show of aggression hadn't been directed at Malfoy's group, but at a grey rat in the red-haired boy's hand.

Good grief, toads, rats, and chocolate frogs stuck to the window... the tastes of wizards were truly bizarre.

"Oh, right!" The red-haired boy hurriedly stowed his rat away, then reached out to thank Harry. "Thanks, you guys. I'm Ron, Ron Weasley. If it weren't for you today... I really wouldn't have known how to handle that."

"We were just passing by while helping Neville look for his pet." Harry shook Ron's hand naturally, though it was just a polite gesture.

He could now roughly map the characters he encountered to the original books and movies, so he knew the boy before him was the secondary protagonist. Even so, Harry had no intention of striking up a deep conversation.

Harry was attending school to get expelled, so other than Hermione, he didn't need to pay much attention to anyone else.

"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

Just then, the train's announcement system chimed, signaling their arrival. Harry, not wanting to continue the conversation, took the opportunity to bid Ron farewell and took Neville back to change into his school robes.

As for Hermione, she had changed long ago.

Being prepared was one of Miss Granger's mottos. In fact, during the time spent waiting for school to start, Hermione had already memorized all the first-year textbooks by heart.

Of course, Harry had secretly memorized them too.

Although he was determined to drop out and always complained about not wanting to be a wizard... he had to admit that the novel things in the magical world were actually quite appealing.

Well, it seems the three fundamental truths of humanity are... "It's actually pretty good," "It's actually pretty good," and "It's actually pretty good."

Chapter 31: You Can Choose Your Own House

Night fell, and the train that had been speeding along all afternoon slowly came to a halt. The students began to file out through the doors.

"First years! First years over here! Hey, Harry, Hermione, are you two doing alright?"

The moment Harry stepped onto the dark, narrow platform, Hagrid's voice, which sounded like a motorcycle engine, boomed out.

The hulking Hagrid waved at Harry while holding a lantern, the dim light tracing shifting patterns in the night, making him look like an oversized firefly spinning in place.

"First years, follow me! We're going to cross the Black Lake by boat!"

Hagrid led the group of first years along a narrow path connected to the platform, finally arriving before a vast, black lake.

On the hillside across the water stood a quaint and majestic castle—that was their destination: Hogwarts.

"Mind you, no more than four to a boat!"

Hagrid reminded the students loudly, but Harry couldn't be bothered to find others to share a boat with, so he simply boarded Hagrid's boat with Hermione.

As for Neville... he was currently in a panic because Trevor had gone missing again.

The first years crossed the Black Lake in their small boats. In front of the castle gates on the other side, they were met by a tall, thin, elderly witch wearing emerald-green robes.

Professor McGonagall... one of the people Harry had met when he was a child.

When Dumbledore decided to leave him with the Dursleys, Professor McGonagall had been vehemently opposed, though she was eventually persuaded.

Damn it, to keep him from growing into a spoiled brat under the influence of the "Boy Who Lived" halo, he let his wicked relatives abuse him in all sorts of ways... Dumbledore's logic was truly one of a kind!

Professor McGonagall was certainly a stern and upright witch, but to Harry's regret, while she lectured the students with a cold face about all the school rules and regulations of Hogwarts, she never mentioned the one thing Harry cared about most.

Come on, you can't just deduct points when someone breaks the rules!

At least tell me what kind of chaos I need to cause to successfully get expelled.

"In any case, the House Cup is a great honor! I hope... Mr. Longbottom, please secure your pet and stand up straight immediately!"

Professor McGonagall's rambling was finally interrupted by a toad that leaped onto her feet, followed closely by Neville, who had tripped over it and landed in the same spot.

Thanks to Neville's heroic display, the group of first-years, who had been tortured for quite some time by her earnest instructions, could finally step into the Hogwarts Great Hall of their dreams.

This was a magnificent, massive rectangular hall, brilliantly lit and glowing, with the ceiling above shimmering with fluorescent light, giving one the fantastical sensation of being beneath an endless starry sky.

On the long tables in the center of the hall, all sorts of dazzling, eye-catching food had already been laid out.

The aroma of the food made many hungry first-years swallow their saliva in secret, but they could only stand in a line and wait in agony, because before they could officially take their seats, they still had to undergo the Sorting Ceremony.

Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool at the front of the line of new students, and on the stool sat an extremely tattered wizard's hat.

The hat was covered in patches and looked old and dirty, especially the pointed tip at the very top, where the accumulated grease had been polished into a thick, shiny layer.

Then, as everyone stared at the hat and the entire Great Hall fell into a deathly silence, the hat opened its mouth and began to sing...

Uh... it sang in a way that completely ruined one's appetite, so I won't write it down.

In short, the Sorting Hat's song let the new students know what kind of screening they were about to face, and at the same time, Professor McGonagall had already brought over the list of this year's new students.

"When I call your name, please put on the Sorting Hat and sit on the stool to await your sorting." Professor McGonagall glanced at the parchment in her hand and read out the first name, "Hannah Abbott!"

It was a little girl with golden braids and a rosy complexion; she walked out of the line, looking somewhat nervous, and tentatively put on the Sorting Hat.

Harry had some impression of this name; after all, when Dawlish was trying to hoodwink him earlier, the Abbott family was the first one he had mentioned.

Hannah Abbott... hmm, well, Hermione is still better, I suppose.

"A bit timid in personality, not very capable of handling pressure..."

"Hm?" Suddenly, Harry's expression shifted slightly; he felt as if he had heard a particularly sleazy voice, one that was busy critiquing the students.