Platform 9 ¾

Under an orderly arrangement, Brie moved into his own room. It didn't look too bad; although simple, it was at least clean, without any hair or debris left behind by the previous occupant.

Beyond these daily routines, Brie spent most of his time reading his textbooks. The content within them overturned his worldview, and even though he had been mentally prepared, he inevitably became immersed in the mysteries of magic.

Of course, experimentation was a must.

Brie held his spellbook in one hand and his wand in the other.

Brie's wand was made of vine wood. Its green trunk was entwined with silver, hollowed-out filigree that extended like vines from the tip to the end, curling into an exquisite, hollow handle at the base that felt very comfortable to hold. It was nine inches long and possessed high flexibility, capable of bending into a bracelet on its own.

"Ollivander said you have no core, but you and I both know that your core is the power of nature."

Having said that, Brie waved his wand without hesitation and declared, "Lumos!"

Following Brie's words, a faint whirlwind of magic gathered within the hollow handle at the base of the wand, while a bright light emerged from the tip.

This was the Wand-Lighting Charm, a decent little spell. Brie had cast it successfully on his first try; it was highly effective.

However, Brie immediately frowned. Because of the memories of An Qing in his mind, he had also acquired An Qing's special magic, but he could clearly feel that the magic he had channeled just now was not the portion given to him by An Qing; instead, it felt like his own.

Could it be that even without An Qing's memories, I would still be a little wizard?

This discovery made Brie very happy. It seemed that everything about him did not rely entirely on An Qing's memories.

Brie did not attempt to channel the magic of An Qing within his body; he wanted to rely on himself. This prideful heart was something Brie himself hadn't noticed, or rather, he didn't think such pride was a bad thing.

As he successfully cast one spell after another, Brie grew more and more confident, only stopping when he encountered some profound magic. He began to carefully read the annotations in his textbooks or touch upon related subjects to supplement his magical knowledge and common sense.

But it had to be said, History of Magic might become a subject that gave Brie a headache...

Waking up the next day, Brie looked at the History of Magic in his hands, written by Bathilda Bagshot. Although his mind was clear and he could find plenty of knowledge on the subject when recalling his memories, he just felt so sleepy.

"I hope the History of Magic teacher is a bit more amiable."

Placing the History of Magic textbook into his trunk, Brie picked up Magical Drafts and Potions to continue his path of previewing. Only by utilizing every available moment to make himself stronger, whether in power or wisdom, could he face the unknown and the changeable.

As time passed, Brie finished previewing all the textbooks in his possession except for History of Magic and Magical Drafts and Potions. It wasn't that he disliked Potions, but he didn't care for it much, and since Potions was mostly practical work, the various data points made Brie realize this wasn't something he could master through a month or two of hard study, so he just skimmed through it and set it aside.

In the time that followed, Brie headed to the second-hand bookstore in Diagon Alley. Here, he could spend the whole day for just one Sickle, provided he didn't damage the books that were already too fragile to handle.

The owner of the second-hand bookstore was not a kind old man, but his quiet nature earned Brie's favor. On the other hand, Flourish and Blotts, while full of new books, was too noisy, and most of the new books could not be browsed.

Only when Brie discovered books he particularly liked in the second-hand shop would he write down a list and head to Flourish and Blotts to purchase them. The price of the books made Brie very grateful for Ms. Emmeline's previous sponsorship of his textbooks. Not being too strapped for cash, he still couldn't bring himself to buy too many, which led him to cross many titles off his list. In any case, he had heard that Hogwarts had plenty of books that students could browse.

September 1, 1991

Brie thought to himself: Plan before you act. I hope the accumulation before school starts will allow me to gain some initiative.

The clamor of cars rose and fell. Brie dragged his small trunk into King's Cross Station. There were many wizards in strange clothes and robes in the station, but the Muggles ignored them. After reading many books, Brie understood that this was the effect of the Muggle-Repelling Charm.

Brie was not wearing robes, but rather a set of decent casual clothes he had bought in London using his own private savings. Of course, the pounds Betty had left for Brie at Gringotts had also been given to him by Emmeline, and Brie could spend them as he pleased.

"A cool place."

Brie was in a good mood, but strangely, he hadn't seen any detailed records of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters in any of the books.

"Nine... ten, is it in between? Could it be some kind of magic?"

Brie pursed his lips in thought. He remembered there was an Unlocking Charm that could open doors; perhaps that spell could be used, but there were too many Muggles here, and it would inevitably be discovered.

"Hi, are you a first-year?"

"Eh?" Brie turned around slowly and saw a sunny boy smiling gently at him, saying, "You're a first-year student at Hogwarts, right? I'm your upperclassman."

Upperclassman?

Standing beside this upperclassman was a middle-aged man who could be identified as the boy's father; he looked very excited.

I should be more polite, Brie thought.

"I am a first-year. May I ask how to get to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?"

Before the upperclassman could speak, his father said, "My Cedric is truly a friendly upperclassman, hahaha."

Following his father's words, the mustache at the corners of his mouth twitched, which looked quite amusing.

The boy named Cedric looked very shy at his father's words, but he didn't refute anything. Instead, he hurriedly said to Brie, "Follow me, I'll take you in."

"It's right here, between platforms nine and ten, the third pillar. Just run right in."

As soon as Cedric finished speaking, he pushed his own trolley and ran through. Beside him, Cedric's father encouraged, "Quick, don't keep Cedric waiting, you sweet little kid."

Brie pursed his lips. He didn't have much of a reaction to the word "sweet"; it was a disguise he had worn since childhood, and he was already used to it.

As he passed through the stone pillar, a train whistle sounded in front of him. A huge, long, dark red steam train was parked beside Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Many parents in robes were talking to their children, and Cedric was waiting to the side.

"Thank you, Cedric. I hope I didn't delay your time." Brie looked around curiously and finally said to Cedric, "I'm Breeze Order. You can call me Brie."

Cedric saw this and extended his hand in a friendly manner, saying, "Cedric Diggory. You can call me Cedric. Hufflepuff, third year."

Hogwarts had four houses, and Hufflepuff was one of them. According to Hogwarts: A History, which Brie had read, it was a loyal and friendly house. Its representative animal was a badger, and its color was yellow.

Brie reached out and shook hands with Cedric, saying, "Hmm, I know about Hufflepuff, but I'm not sure which house I'll go to."

"Maybe Ravenclaw would be nice. Gryffindor is out of the question. Slytherin... erm, I don't think they would want someone from the Muggle world."

"Is that so? I thought you might be a little badger. You have a very kind smile. But most Easterners are in Ravenclaw; they're very smart. I remember there's a Chinese girl in her second year at Ravenclaw..."

Before Cedric could finish, his father, who had just passed through the stone pillar, shouted loudly, "Oh, Hufflepuff is the best! You should really consider Hufflepuff. Cedric is top of his year; he could help you with your studies there."

Cedric's father patted Cedric on the shoulder with great pride, while Cedric gave Breeze an apologetic smile and said, "There are no bad houses at Hogwarts."

Breeze nodded. In truth, his first choice was Ravenclaw, primarily because he loved the quiet and the high towers of Ravenclaw. He enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing at great heights; it made him feel comfortable, looking down from above like a king, unbound and unrestrained.

Gryffindor House at Hogwarts also had a tower, but Breeze disliked it for being too noisy; he suspected that even the wind there would be boisterous.

Slytherin was located on the basement level, and he wondered if he would sleep poorly there.

"Hey, Cedric!"

Someone was calling for Cedric; it seemed to be his friend. Breeze smiled and said, "Then I'll see you at Hogwarts."

Cedric nodded gently, waved to his friend, and said, "The carriages for first-years are in the back. You can go find a seat early. Aside from the few compartments for pure-blood families near the front, you can choose anywhere else."

"Alright, thanks, Cedric."

After parting ways with Cedric, Breeze walked toward the rear carriages. Carrying his small suitcase onto the train, he caught a glimpse of platinum blonde hair entering a very luxurious compartment. The boy did not see Breeze, but the girl following behind him glanced at Breeze. Upon seeing the old satchel he carried, she turned her head away in disgust and walked straight into the compartment. Behind her followed a dark-skinned boy who looked quite refined, though Breeze could sense his arrogance was no less than that of the young lady.

Two tall, burly boys were just about to enter the compartment when they heard Draco Malfoy inside say, "You two go to another compartment. I don't want to listen to crunching and chewing sounds the whole way!"

"Oh, right, Draco."

The two burly boys looked rather dim-witted; they spoke and then headed toward the next carriage. It was clear they were also from pure-blood families.

"Privileges for pure-blood families? It really is just like the nobility in the Muggle world, possessing special rights."

Breeze didn't dwell on it. He walked toward the ordinary carriages at the back of the train, chose a compartment not far from the door, and set down his luggage. He took out the diary from his satchel to write about magic, with a book on Transfiguration resting beside his hand.

Breeze hadn't been sitting for long before he heard a commotion outside. They were two red-headed boys, looking very lively and mischievous. Without needing to guess, they were surely Gryffindor seniors, and they seemed to be shouting something—Harry Potter?

A thoughtful wand, isn't it?